BX  9278  . S8  P4 
Stone,  John  Tim 
1868. 

Places  of  quiet 


othy,  b. 
strength , 

/■S  v-k  «  _ J  . 


I 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/placesofquietstrOOston_O 


Fourth  Church  Pulpit:  First  Series 

PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 


JOHN  TIMOTHY  STONE 


PLACES  OF 


QUIET  STRENGTH 


and  Other  Sermons 

MAR  8  -  1927  ' 

JOHN  TIMOTHY  STONE^^Oe/GALSt^ 

D.D.,  LL.D. 

Pastor ,  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago 


BY 


NEW 


YORK 


GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1923, 

BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH.  I 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


To 

CHARLES  WOOD 

Whose  Life  and  Sermons  when  I  was  of 
High  School  Age  gave  me  Renewed  Pur¬ 
pose  and  Zeal  to  become  a  Minister;  and 
Whose  Spirit,  Standard  and  Friendship  have 
been  an  Ideal  and  Joy  to  me  ever  since. 


FOREWORD 


For  many  years  it  was  my  custom  to  read  a  sermon 
a  day  by  some  one  of  the  great  preachers  of  the 
Scotch,  English  or  American  pulpit.  The  sermons  of 
Chalmers,  Newman,  Beecher,  Maclaren,  Flavel,  Lid- 
don,  Bushnell,  William  M.  Taylor,  Roswell  D.  Hitch¬ 
cock,  Frederick  W.  Robertson,  Moody,  Spurgeon,  Sel- 
bie,  Watkinson  and  others  have  been  through  the  years 
a  constant  source  of  inspiration  and  personal  help. 

There  is  a  question,  however,  whether  the  reading  of 
individual  sermons  ever  helps  one  directly  in  sermon 
preparation,  but  their  indirect  influence  as  to  style, 
clarity,  imagination  and  inspiration  undoubtedly  have 
far-reaching  effect.  If  themes  do  not  suggest  them¬ 
selves  individually,  and  come  fresh  and  clear  to  the 
mind,  they  seldom  leave  a  marked  impression  upon  a 
congregation. 

Much  of  the  work  of  preparation  for  my  own  pulpit 
has  been  fragmentary  and  irregular;  not  that  it  has 
been  neglected,  nor  minimized,  but  the  constant  de¬ 
mands  and  interruptions  of  a  large  parish,  together 
with  repeated  responsibilities  from  the  Church  and 
agencies  at  large  have  forced  me  to  do  my  work  at 
all  times,  frequently  with  limited  time  and  amid  divert¬ 
ing  surroundings.  Some  of  these  sermons  are  the 
result  of  more  study  and  thought  than  others;  some 
merely  the  stenographic  report,  revised. 

vii 


vm 


FOREWORD 


In  reading  over  the  proof  my  experience  no  doubt 
has  been  that  of  others,  and  is  one  of  sincere  regret 
that  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  publish.  Realizing 
as  one  must  the  loss  which  comes  to  all  public  utterance 
when  separated  from  the  personality  of  expression,  the 
only  possible  reason  for  publishing  can  be  that  some 
may  gain  through  these  pages  the  inspiration  which 
others  have  given  me,  and  also  that  many  who  have 
heard  these  sermons  may  recall  associations  which 
have  inspired  and  endeared. 


Faithfully, 

J.  T.  S. 


CONTENTS 


I  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH  .  .  . 

“They  have  forgotten  their  resting-place.’’ — 
Jeremiah  50:6. 

II  THE  FOUR-SQUARE  LIFE . 

“And  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  Thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength :  this  is 
the  first  commandment.” — Mark  12 130. 

“And  the  city  lieth  four-square,  and  the  length 
is  as  large  as  the  breadth.” — Revelation  21:16. 

III  WINGS  LIKE  THE  EAGLE . 

“But  they  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew 
their  strength;  they  shall  mount  up  with 
wings  as  eagles ;  they  shall  run  and  not  be 
weary;  they  shall  walk  and  not  faint." — 
Isaiah  40:31. 

IV  A  NEW  HEAVEN  AND  A  NEW  EARTH  . 

“And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth : 
for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were 
passed  away,  and  there  was  no  more  sea.” — 
Revelation  21:1. 

V  BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL  .... 

“And  Balaam  and  the  son  of  Beor  they  slew 
with  the  sword.” — Numbers  31 :8. 

VI  UNITING  WITH  THE  CHURCH  .  .  . 

“Let  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so.” — 
Psalm  107 : 2. 

VII  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  GOD . 

“How  precious  are  Thy  thoughts  unto  me,  O 
God;  how  great  is  the  sum  of  them.  If  I 
should  count  them,  they  are  more  in  number 


PAGE 

II 

23 

33 

45 

54 

671 

77 


IX 


X 


CONTENTS 


VII  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  GOD  [Continued] 

than  the  sand;  when  I  awake  I  am  still  with 
Thee/’ — Psalm  139:17,  18. 

VIII  THE  JOY  OF  RESTORATION  .  .  .  „ 

“Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault 
ye  which  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in 
the  spirit  of  meekness,  considering  thyself  lest 
thou  also  be  tempted.” — Galatians  6:1. 

IX  MY  PRESENCE  SHALL  GO  WITH  THEE 

“If  Thy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  me 
not  up  hence.” — Exodus  33:14-15. 

X  THE  APPEAL  OF  THE  GOSPEL  MINIS¬ 
TRY  . 

“Then  said  I,  Here  am  I;  send  me.” — Isaiah 

6 :8. 

XI  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  GREAT  RICHES 

“All  these  things  have  I  observed;  what  lack 
I  yet?” — Matthew  19:20. 

XII  UNITY  IN  SERVICE . 

“The  work  is  great  and  large,  and  we  are  sep¬ 
arated  upon  the  wall,  one  far  from  another.” 
— Nehemiah  4:19. 

XIII  THE  HUMILITY  OF  THE  SOUL  .  .  . 

“He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.” 
— Luke  18:14. 

XIV  THE  CONVICTION  OF  SIN . 

“And  when  He  is  come,  He  will  reprove  the 
world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment;  of  sin,  because  they  believe  not  on 
Me.” — John  16:8,  9. 

XV  FAITH  REWARDED . 

“Then  touched  He  their  eyes,  saying,  ‘Accord¬ 
ing  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you.’  ” — Matthew 
9:29. 

XVI  GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY  .  .  .  . 

“And  man  became  a  living  soul.” — Genesis  2:7. 


PAGE 

84 

95 

103 

116 

125 

137 

148 

158 

168 


CONTENTS 


xi 


XVII 

XVIII 

XIX 

XX 

XXI 

XXII 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  . 

“But  ye  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  come  upon  you.” — Acts  i  :8. 

THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE . 

“Suffer  it  now:  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness.” — Matthew  3:15. 

FAITH  ESTABLISHED . 

“That  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wis¬ 
dom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God.” — I  Co- 

RINTIANS  2:5. 

YESTERDAY,  TODAY  AND  TOMORROW 

“The  latter  glory  of  this  house  shall  be  greater 
than  the  former,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts;  and 
in  this  place  will  I  give  peace.”— Haggai  2:9. 

“Only  be  strong  and  very  courageous,  to  ob¬ 
serve  to  do  according  to  all  the  law,  which 
Moses,  my  servant,  commanded  thee;  turn  not 
from  it  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  that 
thou  mayest  have  good  success  whithersoever 
thou  goest.”-— Joshua  2:7. 

CHRISTIAN  ESTABLISHMENT  .  .  . 

“When  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy 
brethren.” — Luke  22  .-32. 

THE  SOUL’S  VISION . 

“And  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young 
man  and  he  saw.” — II  Kings  6:17. 


PAGE 

180 

194 

208 

215 

233 

242 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 


PLACES  OF  QUIET 
STRENGTH 


I 

PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

‘They  have  forgotten  their  resting  place.” 

— Jeremiah  50:6. 

“They  have  forgotten  their  resting  place.”  These 
words  were  spoken  by  Jeremiah.  You  will  find  them 
in  the  fiftieth  chapter  of  the  prophecy  that  bears  his 
name,  the  sixth  verse.  Let  me  read  the  preceding 
words  that  we  may  have  a  frame  for  this  picture : 

“In  those  days  and  in  that  time,  saith  the  Lord, 
the  children  of  Israel  shall  come,  they  and  the 
children  of  Judah  together,  going  and  weeping: 
they  shall  go  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God. 

“They  shall  ask  the  way  to  Zion  with  their  faces 
thitherward,  saying,  come  and  let  us  join  ourselves 
to  the  Lord  in  a  perpetual  covenant  that  shall  not 
be  forgotten. 

“My  people  hath  been  lost  sheep  :  their  shepherds 
have  caused  them  to  go  astray,  they  have  turned 
them  away  on  the  mountains  :  they  have  gone  from 
mountain  to  hill,  they  have  forgotten  their  resting 
place.” 


12 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

The  Scripture  prompts  us  to  consider  this  morning 
the  subject  of  “Places  of  Quiet  Strength.”  We  are 
told  that  one  of  the  quietest  of  all  physical  places  is  in 
the  very  centre  of  the  cyclone.  Have  you  ever  seen  a 
bird’s  nest  swinging  above  the  water-fall?  Have  you 
ever  known  a  triumphant,  quiet  soul  although  living  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  rush  and  confusion  of  life?  Let 
me  read  a  hymn  to  you :  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  never 
wrote  more  beautiful  words  than  these: 

“When  winds  are  raging  o’er  the  upper  ocean, 

And  billows  wild  contend  with  angry  roar ; 

\Tis  said,  far  down,  beneath  the  wild  commotion, 
That  peaceful  stillness  reigneth  evermore. 

“Far,  far  beneath  the  noise  of  tempests  dieth, 

And  silver  waves  chime  ever  peacefully, 

And  no  rude  storm,  how  fierce  soe’er  it  flieth, 
Disturbs  the  Sabbath  of  that  deeper  sea. 

“So  in  the  heart  that  knows  thy  love,  O  Purest, 
There  is  a  temple,  sacred  evermore; 

And  all  the  babble  of  life’s  angry  voices 

Dies  in  hushed  stillness  at  its  peaceful  door. 

“Far,  far  away,  the  roar  of  passion  dieth, 

And  loving  thoughts  rise  kind  and  peacefully, 

And  no  rude  storm,  how  fierce  soe’er  it  flieth, 
Disturbs  the  soul  that  dwells,  O  Lord,  in  Thee.” 


Such  words  are  well  nigh  inspired,  and  impress  upon 
us  our  morning  truth. 

There  was  a  Hindoo  woman,  who,  out  of  the  chaos 
and  darkness  of  her  surrounding,  found  Christ  and 
learned  those  words  of  Scripture: 


IB 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

“Peace  I  leave  with  thee ;  my  peace  I  give  unto 
thee,  not  as  the  world  giveth  give  I  unto  thee.  Let 
not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be 
afraid.” 

Later  she  learned  such  words  as  these : 

“Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy- 
laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest.” 

and  one  day  studying  the  songs  of  that  great  bard 
inspired  by  Jehovah,  she  read  these  words  : 

“The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want ; 

He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures; 

He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters ; 

He  restoreth  my  soul.” 

Into  her  mind  there  came  the  inspiration  of  another 
song,  and  she  took  her  pen  and  wrote : 

“In  the  secret  of  His  presence, 

How  my  soul  delights  to  hide. 

O,  how  precious  are  the  lessons 
Which  I  learn  at  Jesus’  side. 

Earthly  cares  can  never  vex  me, 

Neither  trials  lay  me  low, 

For  when  Satan  comes  to  tempt  me, 

To  the  secret  place  I  go.” 

and  the  words  of  that  poem  have  gone  around  the 
Christian  world  in  a  hymn  to  quiet  the  troubled  heart. 
Yes,  a  Hindu  convert  learned  the  meaning  in  our  text : 
“They  have  forgotten  their  resting  place.” 

First,  let  us  consider  this  fact,  Jesus  Christ’s  defini¬ 
tion  of  rest  was  not  temporal  nor  confining.  We  say 
we  will  take  a  vacation.  There  ought  to  be  a  working 


14  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

philosophy,  or,  a  philosophy  of  work,  so  that  in 
every  business  and  in  every  life  sometime  during  the 
year  every  individual  soul  might  get  away  for  a  time 
from  his  or  her  accustomed  task.  We  speak  thus  of  a 
vacation.  It  seems  adjusted  to  the  age  and  day  in 
which  we  live.  Christ  meant  the  vacation  period  of 
life  to  be  a  regular,  constant  experience  of  relaxation. 
We  err  when  we  merely  call  attention  to  the  worship¬ 
fulness  of  the  Sabbath  Day,  for  God  made  the  day,  a 
time  when  rest  should  be  given  man.  God  meant  the 
Sabbath  for  man,  not  man  for  the  Sabbath.  He  did 
not  in  His  eternal  philosophy  divide  time  into  seven 
periods  and  say  we  must  take  one-seventh  to  bow 
before  Him.  Not  at  all.  He  so  constructed  human  life, 
body,  mind  and  soul  that  the  man  needs  one-seventh 
of  life’s  time  for  rest,  quiet,  thoughtfulness  and  rev¬ 
erence,  and  thus  He  made  the  Sabbath  for  man. 

God’s  system  is  seen  in  regularity  and  constancy. 
The  day  follows  the  night.  The  sun  rises  and  the 
calendar  tells  us  exactly  when.  We  know  that  storms 
are  a  result  of  physical  conditions.  We  have  a  great 
period  of  heat,  and  moisture  rises  in  the  air.  Then 
the  heavens  become  too  heavy  to  contain  themselves, 
and  torrents  come  down  to  moisten  the  parched  earth 
and  refresh  it  again.  It  is  God’s  law  in  action.  The 
weather-bureau  does  not  guess,  but  facts  and  conditions 
reveal  and  speak. 

Last  Sabbath  afternoon  I  was  going  from  one  college 
appointment  to  another  in  the  East,  and  a  terrific  storm 
came  down  upon  us.  I  never  saw  it  rain  more  furi¬ 
ously  and  continuously.  Going  through  the  streets  of 
Old  Cambridge  our  automobile  had  to  go  through 


lo 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

streams  of  water,  but  we  had  been  experiencing  two 
or  three  days  of  intense  heat,  and  this  down-pour  was 
the  natural  result.  God  sometimes  works  in  what  may 
seem  a  catastrophe,  but  thoughtfulness  reminds  us  that 
the  regularity  of  forces  are  giving  vent  to  pent-up 
conditions,  for  regularity  is  God’s  law.  Now  if  God’s 
law  of  order  has  made  this  world  what  it  is  and  is 
continuing  so  to  do,  we  must  consider  more  thought¬ 
fully  the  resting  places  which  God  has  made  in  human 
life. 

Have  you  ever  stopped  to  think  of  what  a  wonderful 
thing  sleep  is  ?  Our  bodies,  minds  and  nerves  are  worn 
out,  but,  when  in  the  exhaustion  of  our  forces  we  lie 
down  and  sleep,  we  awake  perhaps  eight  hours  after¬ 
ward  rested  and  face  other  tasks  easily  'and  willingly. 
We  work  hour  after  hour,  on  into  the  night,  and  are 
wearied  again,  and  sleep  comes  and  again  we  are  rested. 
The  great  natural  sources  of  life  are  the  regular  sources 
of  recuperation,  readjustment  and  recreation.  These 
are  God’s  great  natural  influences  of  power  in  the 
world.  Why  do  we  overlook  this?  “Thy  people  have 
forgotten  their  resting  place.” 

There  is  nothing  in  all -this  world  so  beautiful  as  a 
little  child.  I  cannot  understand  how  those  to  whom 
God  has  not  sent  little  children  can  po-ssibly  live  on 
through  life  without  adopting  them.  You  are  robbing 
your  lives  of  the  greatest  blessing  “home”  can  ever 
define!  You  are  failing  to  enrich  your  life  with  the 
sweetest  and  holiest  gift  of  God.  O,  men  and  women, 
think  of  it!  It  is  not  so  much  for  the  child  that  I  speak 
now;  it  is  for  motherhood  and  fatherhood.  There 
are  few  people  who  can  grow  up  in  a  home  without 


16  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

children,  without  becoming  supremely  selfish.  There 
are  some,  thank  God,  but  very  few.  If  God  has  not  sent 
into  your  life  the  greatest  gift  He  ever  gives,  in  the 
form  of  a  little  child,  consider  seriously  this  truth.  A 
baby’s  hand  upon  your  face,  as  Victor  Hugo  pointed 
out,  has  more  of  God  in  it  and  more  of  human  joy  in 
it  than  any  other  touch  of  life.  If  you  have  not 
known  it,  think  and  pray  about  it.  Children  bring  the 
joy  and  poise  of  life  to  a  home.  Life’s  resting  places 
are  not  in  the  extremes,  nor  found  on  special  occasions ; 
not  in  the  Niagara  Falls,  nor  the  Glacier  Parks,  nor 
even  in  the  great  rolling  sea,  but  the  natural  gifts  of 
God  come  right  along  life’s  way,  in  the  ordinary,  the 
commonplace,  the  near-at-hand. 

Yesterday,  looking  out  from  my  study  window,  I 
saw  the  far-reaches  of  blue  Lake  Michigan.  For  a 
moment  I  forgot  it  was  Chicago  and  that  the  room 
was  the  study  of  the  pastor  of  the  Fourth  Church;  that 
we  were  here  on  the  Drive;  that  those  were  apartment 
houses  before  me.  I  dreamed  a  moment  and  saw 
Venice,  Naples,  the  Mediterranean.  I  saw  before  me 
places  to  which  the  world  travels  to  gain  beauty.  Later 
in  the  day,  I  went  by  thousands  of  people,  children 
playing  in  the  sand,  tired  mothers  and  fathers  lying  on 
the  grass.  Great  lessons  are  these,  and  how  near  at 
hand.  Tens  of  thousands,  yea,  hundreds  of  thousands, 
filling  this  great  city  with  one-fortieth  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  live,  happy  and  joyful,  right  here 
on  the  banks  of  the  Lake.  Then  I  thought  of  the 
blue  lake  again;  of  its  beauty  and  expanse  and  glory. 
I  joined  in  the  mirth  of  children;  sympathised  with 
mothers  and  fathers  talking  with  their  children;  saw 


17 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

their  love-looks  as  childhood  and  youth  came  back  to 
them  again.  Ere  I  knew  it  I  was  thanking  God  for  our 
city  and  our  wonderful  lake.  What  a  beauty  all  about 
us !  What  a  place  in  which  to  live !  What  a  life  to  live 
with  others.  And  my  heart  broke  forth  in  its  own 
song,  unexpressed — “May  Jesus  Christ  Be  Praised !” 

Yes,  and  it  was  all  right  here.  We  do  not  have  to  go 
away  to  enjoy  it.  I  have  had  such  a  longing  lately  to 
stay  here  right  through  the  summer,  and  have  had  to 
contend  with  myself  to  think  it  right  to  go  away  for 
rest  and  recreation.  The  longing  of  the  soul  took  pos¬ 
session  for  the  time  in  the  joy  of  the  present,  just  here 
where  we  live  and  where  human  hearts  are  suffering 
and  glad,  and  where  the  ripple  of  the  laughter  of  chil¬ 
dren  outrivals  the  ripple  of  the  wavelets  of  Lake  Michi¬ 
gan.  Yes,  it  is  a  wonderful  place.  The  birds  are 
singing  here;  the  joys  of  life  are  here.  Have  we  not 
forgotten?  “My  people  have  forgotten  their  resting 
place.” 

We  get  so  tired  with  the  duties  of  the  day,  with  the 
cares  of  life,  with  the  ordering  of  food,  with  the 
making  of  beds,  with  the  tireless  constancy  of  a  tele¬ 
phone,  with  replies  to  questions,  that  we  forget  that 
there  is  a  resting  place  in  every  home,  even  in  a  noisy 
apartment  because  partitions  are  too  thin.  There  is  a 
resting  place  everywhere  to  those  who  have  the  soul 
to  live — “In  the  secret  of  His  presence,  where  the  soul 
delights  to  hide.” 

Yes,  you  say,  “but  we  are  living  in  a  whirlwind.” 
Well,  make  it  a  cyclone,  if  you  will,  but  remember  the 
calmest  place  may  be  in  the  centre  of  the  cyclone. 


18 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 


“Quiet,  Lord,  my  froward  heart ; 

Make  me  teachable  and  mild, 

Do  we  know  the  secret  place?  Have  we  forgotten 
“our  resting  place?”  “In  Thy  presence  is  fulness  of 
joy.” 

It  is  wonderful  how  we  can  control  conditions  if  we 
will.  We  sometimes  have  seen  a  dear  old  grandmother, 
whose  quiet,  lovely  face  was  a  benediction  in  the  home, 
and  in  came  a  rollicking  dirty-faced  boy,  dragging  mud 
and  everything  that  a  boyish  nature  carries  with  it. 
But,  the  grandmother  did  not  scold  him!  She  said, 
“Donald,  come  here  a  minute,”  and  then  with  her  dear 
lips  and  sweet  face  she  kissed  young  Donald  on  the 
forehead,  and  he  forgot  his  restlessness  for  a  moment, 
and  more  quietly  went  up  stairs  to  his  room.  Then  he 
went  down  and  kissed  her  dear  face  and  said,  “Grand¬ 
mother,  you  certainly  are  it.  I  am  glad  I  have  you.,, 
Is  she  not  a  benediction  in  his  life?  What  gave  that 
grandmother  that  poise?  She  did  not  like  mud,  nor 
care  for  his  noise;  she  even  missed  some  stitches  in  her 
knitting,  but  there  was  something  in  her  soul  that  gave 
her  poise  and  charm,  for  she  had  her  “resting  place,” 
not  in  the  turmoil  of  the  city  without,  but  in  the  quiet 
of  the  soul  within. 

Notice  another  thing.  The  resting  place  of  God  is 
not  only  a  place  of  poise  and  quietness,  but  it  is  a  great 
adjuster  of  the  difficulties  of  human  life.  Get  away, 
men  say,  from  surroundings.  See  streams,  look  at 
stars,  see  mountains,  behold  the  various  colours  of  the 
ocean — do  anything.  This  is  all  wholesome  advice,  if 
possible,  but  it  is  not  the  only  way.  The  religion  of 


19 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Jesus  Christ  is  a  great  controlling  influence  so  that 
when  we  cannot  get  away  to  the  place  of  diversion  we 
may  find  the  adjusting  force  within  and  may  be  calm 
and  strong — “In  the  secret  of  His  presence.” 

It  is  said  that  when  Secretary  Hughes  spoke  in  the 
recent  Peace  Conference,  not  frequently  and  in  very 
few  words,  so  controlled  was  his  manner  that  many 
who  had  never  know  his  type  of  life  before  said,  “How 
can  we  get  together?”  It  is  wonderful  to  have  a  poise 
of  life  which  puts  wrangling  natures  at  ease,  and  this 
without  calling  attention  to  personality. 

Of  course  our  lives  would  be  happier  from  every 
standpoint  if  we  could  make  things  just  as  we  want 
them.  We  can  control  our  friendships  but  not  our 
relationships  in  this  world.  If  home  were  a  little 
different;  if  relatives  were  less  insistent;  if  there  were 
not  problems  in  the  servant  question;  if  wages  were 
always  according  to  our  scale;  if  children  were  never 
irritable;  if  teachers  were  always  ideal;  if  food  were 
always  cooked  properly.  But,  this  is  not  true  to  life. 
There  are  all  kinds  of  difficulties  and  readjustments 
necessary  in  life,  and  life  is  just  what  we  make  it 
after  all. 

God  says  to  us  to-day,  “You  have  forgotten  your 
resting  place.”  “I  am  a  God  who  can  meet  conditions 
as  they  are.”  In  this  great  contest  of  life  there  are 
those  who  are  always  destroying  peace  because  actual 
things  are  not  ideal,  but  the  quiet  place  may  be  an 
adjuster.  With  it  we  may  iron  out  the  wrinkles  and 
gain  the  smile  of  contentment.  Paul  said,  “I  have 
learned  in  whatsoever  state  I  am  therewith  to  be  con¬ 
tent.”  No  man  or  woman  has  contentment  given  to 


20  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

start  with  as  a  gift.  Even  Paul  was  a  long  time 
“learning”  it. 

This  poise  of  the  soul,  this  resting  place,  means 
that  irritable  mothers  can  somehow  speak  gently  to 
children;  that  angry,  unguarded  fathers  may  learn 
patience,  even  if  things  are  not  just  as  they  should  be 
at  home.  Love  is  in  his  heart  and  poise  means  “father¬ 
hood.”  The  true  father  has  a  gentility,  a  greatness  of 
the  soul  that  will  adjust  conditions. 

A  great  musician  can  sit  down  at  an  organ  and  bring 
out  rarest  melodies  and  harmonies  from  minor  keys. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  musicians  I  ever  knew 
was  a  lady  who  once  played  the  hymns  for  us  at  a 
Student  Conference  at  Silver  Bay,  Lake  George.  I 
asked  her  if  she  could  play  the  piano  at  the  morning 
service.  She  said,  “I  will  try.”  I  knew  she  was  a 
great  musician,  although  there  were  many  problems 
to  contend  with  in  the  use  of  that  old  piano.  When 
she  tried  it,  there  was  a  gasp.  This  particular  pi^ce  of 
wood  and  ivory  was  so  out  if  tune,  it  was  impossible  to 
play  it.  But,  she  studied  it  without  saying  a  word.  I 
was  busy  and  fully  intended  to  get  a  piano  tuner,  but 
had  forgotten  my  intention,  but  she  sat  down  at  the 
piano  the  next  Sunday  morning,  as  the  service  opened, 
and  played  it  perfectly  without  a  single  note  of  discord. 
I  noticed  she  changed  different  octaves  and  notes,  but 
not  a  single  false  note  was  struck,  and  every  one  was 
delighted.  There  was  something  in  her  touch  anyway 
that  was  the  soul  of  music.  I  said,  “what  did  you  do?” 
“I  did  not  do  much  of  anything,”  she  replied.  “I  just 
studied  the  dear  old  thing  the  whole  afternoon  and 
learned  it,  and  then  left  out  the  notes  that  were  out  of 


21 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

tune  and  used  the  others.  I  really  used  about  five  hours 
on  it,  but  you  did  not  hear  any  discords  did  you?” 
What  a  lesson !  Why,  a  poor  musician,  or  a  little  life 
would  have  said,  “You  will  have  to  excuse  me.  I  have 
some  talent.  With  such  an  instrument  I  would  ruin 
my  reputation.”  But  not  that  rare  soul !  That  mother 
who  could  hold  in  her  arms  worried,  wilful  children 
and  could  guide  and  watch  them  through  all  the  years 
until  they  became  noble  men  and  women,  looked  at  the 
old  piano  with  its  discords  as  something  that  could  be 
easily  controlled  and  conquered. 

My  dear  people,  such  is  life.  Not  what  life  is,  but 
what  we  are.  Have  we  not  forgotten  our  resting  place  ? 
Listen,  once  more.  Of  course,  we  do  not  want  sorrow. 
Of  course,  we  do  not  want  sickness.  Of  course,  we  do 
not  want  limitations  or  difficulties  or  losses  and  mis¬ 
understandings.  No,  but  we  have  a  resting  place.  It 
is  the  place  of  poise  and  power  and  reserve,  and  these 
mean  God.  Look  away  sometimes  at  yonder  moun¬ 
tain,  or  at  the  sea.  Behold  the  rising  sun  which  in  its 
meridian  strength  draws  water  from  the  ocean  into  the 
far-away  clouds.  It  does  not  make  any  noise.  It  rests 
in  its  mighty  strength.  When  an  automobile  is  out  of 
order,  it  makes  a  great  deal  of  noise;  when  it  is  in 
order,  it  is  comparatively  noiseless.  How  about  the 
sun  and  the  stars  with  their  millions  and  billions  of 
miles  of  infinite  distances  ?  Are  they  noisy,  or  fretful, 
or  worried? 

Have  we  forgotten  our  resting  place?  “In  the  secret 
of  His  presence.”  “Great  peace  have  they  that  love 
Thy  law.”  Ungodly  people  are  noisy  and  perturbed, 
not  Christlike  souls.  “Be  still  and  know  that  I  am 


22 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

God.”  “My  people  have  forgotten  their  resting  place.” 
“Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is 
stayed  on  Thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  Thee.”  “The 
Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want.”  “Let  not  your 
heart  be  troubled.”  “Be  anxious  for  nothing.” 

Let  us  Remember  our  “Resting  Place.” 


II 


THE  FOUR-SQUARE  LIFE 

“And  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength :  this  is  the  first 
commandment.” — Mark  12 :30. 

“And  the  city  lieth  four-square,  and  the  length  is 
as  large  as  the  breadth.” — Revelation  21 : 16. 

There  is  a  four-square  measure  of  life.  There  is  in 
this  definition  that  which  is  complete  in  human  attain¬ 
ment  and  character.  No  one  is  perfect,  and  no  one 
ever  has  been  save  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  was  God 
incarnate.  “And  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us,  and  we  beheld  His  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the 
Only  Begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and 
truth.”  The  true  measure  of  a  life  is  known  in  its  four¬ 
fold  character. 

The  four-square  life  is  the  life  in  which  body,  mind, 
heart  and  soul  work  for  the  highest  and  best.  It  is  the 
life  that  is  right  and  complete  physically,  mentally, 
morally  and  spiritually. 

One  of  the  important  battles  in  history  was  won  be¬ 
cause  the  great  general  was  wise  enough  to  fight  with 
a  four-side  front.  That  whole  open  line  faced  the 
enemy,  but  by  some  subtle  and  adroit  gift  of  general¬ 
ship,  surmising  the  purpose  of  the  enemy,  he  knew  if 
they  were  to  strike  from  the  rear,  and  thus  penetrate,  to 


23 


24  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

oppose  this  he  must  form  a  square  with  fighting  ranks 
facing  every  direction.  The  opposing  foe,  knowing 
nothing  of  this,  sought  to  penetrate  the  left  flank  and 
met  with  resistance;  they  then  sought  the  right  flank 
and  met  with  the  same  resistance.  Finally,  expecting  to 
find  the  hollow  opening,  they  attacked  the  rear  to  find 
the  same  opposition,  for  that  general  had  made  every 
side  of  that  square  strong  for  defence  and  the  battle 
was  won. 

The  great  difficulty  with  human  character  is  that 
men  are  so  often  only  three-quarters  men.  The  enemy 
finds  the  weak  side.  Men  are  satisfied  with  attaining 
an  average  standard  in  the  comparative  degree,  but  do 
not  attain  the  standard  which  God  has  set  up  for 
character  and  right.  They  compare  their  own  charac¬ 
ter  with  the  character  of  others  and  seem  satisfied  with 
the  comparative  test.  There  is  a  weak  side.  Let  us 
illustrate : 

Take  for  instance  a  man  with  marked  physical  de¬ 
velopment.  His  chest  is  broad  and  full ;  his  breathing 
is  deep ;  his  heart  action  regular.  He  has  well-developed 
muscles  in  arms,  limbs  and  trunk — all  is  perfect.  In 
looking  at  his  body  we  see  an  Apollo  in  strength  and 
grace.  He  is  able  to  meet  every  physical  demand  in 
life  and  meet  it  well.  We  look  at  him  in  admiration  and 
wonder,  but  as  we  eat  with  him  and  converse  with  him, 
it  happens  that  this  Apollo  in  figure  and  giant  in 
strength  uses  very  bad  grammar.  He  eats  with  his 
knife  and  leaves  his  spoon  in  his  coffee-cup.  We  notice 
his  linen  and  his  finger-nails,  and  immediately  say — 
“Where  has  he  been  brought  up?”  “What  is  he?” 
He  knows  nothing  apparently  except  the  life  of  the 


25 


THE  FOUR-SQUARE  LIFE 

prize-ring,  and  although  he  can  give  the  nick-names  of 
all  the  men  in  the  fighting  ring,  and  has  all  base-ball 
knowledge  as  well,  he  has  little  intelligence  along  other 
lines,  and  really  feels  very  much  out  of  place  outside  of 
his  own  group  of  society.  True,  he  can  wear  a  dress 
suit,  but  .it  does  not  look  natural  on  him.  He  is  a 
physical  wonder,  but  otherwise  we  refrain  from  esti¬ 
mate.  Does  a  man  want  his  son  to  be  that  kind  of  a 
man?  Physical  attainment  is  only  one  side  of  the 
square  of  life.  It  is  an  important  one,  but  it  is  not  all. 

A  second  man  comes  before  us  who  is  perfect 
mentally.  He  can  talk  upon  any  subject  and  talk  in¬ 
telligently.  He  is  a  student.  He  is  not  tiresome  in  his 
conversation,  but  is  brilliant,  even  scintillating.  Sud¬ 
denly  he  coughs  deeply  and  protractedly,  and  some  one 
says,  “He  is  not  long  for  this  world ;  he  has  no  strength, 
no  physique.”  Well,  he  has  another  side  of  the  square, 
but  has  not  the  first  side. 

Then  a  third  appears.  His  physical  and  mental 
development  are  all  one  could  desire.  Here,  surely,  is 
our  man !  He  has  a  strong  body  and  a  splendid  mental 
equipment.  He  is  clear,  thoughtful,  analytic,  wise, 
sympathetic.  We  have  found  our  man,  but,  alas !  we  find 
this  man  of  splendid  physical  and  mental  life  is  morally 
unsound.  He  disregards  the  truth  which  God’s  own 
Book  has  made  essential,  and  which  the  jurispru¬ 
dence  of  the  ages  has  approved.  We  find  he  cares 
nothing  whatever  for  the  great  laws  of  society.  Moral¬ 
ity  means  nothing  to  him.  Life  is  simply  a  pleasurable 
affair  in  which  the  physical  can  have  its  own  indulgence 
and  freedom.  Mentally,  too,  he  is  all  one  could  desire, 
but  the  mind  bears  no  sense  of  responsibility.  He  cares 


26  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

nothing  for  the  word  “duty.”  He  has  no  moral  sense. 
If  he  breaks  God’s  or  man’s  law,  it  is  merely  a  question 
of  evading  detection  in  his  fear  of  punishment. 

Many  years  ago  a  lad  graduated  from  one  of  our 
Eastern  universities  who  had  taken  many  prizes  in  that 
university.  He  was  a  youth  far  beyond  his  years  in 
brilliancy  of  mind.  He  was  an  athlete  of  no  small  note 
in  the  Eastern  athletic  world,  and  he  graduated  among 
the  best  students  of  his  class,  but  he  was  despised  by 
every  fellow-student ;  in  fact,  almost  hated  by  many  of 
them.  He  scarcely  had  a  friend  in  his  entire  class. 
When  his  name  was  mentioned,  the  professors  turned 
the  subject  and  did  not  care  to  discuss  him.  Why?  If 
you  had  gotten  into  the  close  confidence  of  one  of 
those  professors,  he  would  have  told  you,  with  sorrow, 
that  that  boy  was  obsolutely  void  of  any  moral  char¬ 
acter.  He  had  broken  every  law  of  moral  standing  in 
this  university,  but  had  done  it  in  such  a  slick  way  and 
covered  his  tracks  so  skilfully,  that  his  works  could  not 
be  proved.  Everybody  knew  how  rank  his  life  was. 
He  lived  but  a  few  years  after  graduation.  Of  course, 
he  was  a  cynic.  Of  course,  he  had  no  good  word  for 
another.  He  was  keen  and  brilliant;  splendid  on  the 
athletic  field,  but  he  had  no  moral  sense.  He  cared  not 
for  life,  save  as  it  afforded  him  satisfaction  and  pleas¬ 
ure.  He  was  morally  void.  I  do  not  think  any  lad 
ever  had  sadder  parents.  They  were  unconscious, 
thank  God,  of  all  that  his  companions  knew  of  him.'' 

Over  against  such  a  life,  cite  a  young  man  whose 
moral  sense  is  all  one  could  desire — a  man  thoughtful 
of  God’s  laws  and  to  whom  the  laws  of  society  have 
become  the  principles  of  his  life.  Such  a  one  is 


THE  FOUR-SQUARE  LIFE  27 

physically  strong,  mentally  clear,  and  morally  pure. 
We  say,  “There  is  my  man!”  But,  wait  a  minute. 
There  may  be  a  hollow  side  to  this  life.  God’s  law  has 
made  life  four-square.  It  is  not  only  the  physical, 
mental  and  moral  life,  but  we  have  an  obligation  to 
God  which  is  mysterious  and  undefined,  but  which  is 
vital  if  we  are  to  have  a  four-square  manhood.  There 
is  the  spiritual  life. 

How  many  people  in  this  world  have  just  missed 
life’s  real  meaning,  because  they  have  failed  to  adjust 
themselves  to  divine  things  as  well  as  to  the  conditions 
of  human  life?  They  are  careful,  thoughtful,  brilliant, 
but  they  do  not  see  the  great  Divine  Being  who  stands 
back  of  success.  They  have  missed  Him. 

How  many  in  human  life  are  physically,  mentally 
and  morally  equipped,  who  are  missing  the  complete 
life  because  spiritual  things  have  not  been  a  matter  of 
consideration  with  them.  They  are  logical;  they  are 
philosophical ;  they  respond  to  the  real.  They  say  they 
are  materialists,  in  the  sense  that  they  want  to  know 
their  ground,  but  the  experience  of  faith  is  omitted. 
They  do  not  see  beyond  the  things  that  are  material. 
They  are  not  allowing  the  soul  to  search  for  the  undis¬ 
covered.  They  have  not  the  great  power  of  the  un¬ 
attained.  The  defined  in  life  controls  the  undefined. 
They  fail  to  know  that  the  mysteries  of  the  soul’s 
realities  are  more  vital  to  us  than  the  things  we  see  and 
feel.  The  things  we  love,  the  books  we  finger,  may  be 
taken  from  us.  The  child  who  wraps  you  with  his 
affection ;  our  homes,  dearer  to  us  than  all  else, — every 
one  of  these  things  may  be  taken  from  us.  The 
severings  and  separations  of  life  relate  to  the  material, 


28  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

but  the  great  infinite  realities  are  always  to  abide 
with  us. 

A  woman  was  standing  this  last  summer  in  France 
by  a  little  grave,  for  she  had  discovered  that  her  boy’s 
remains  were  there.  She  did  not  say  a  word.  She 
stood  silently  by  that  grave,  then  returned  to  her  hotel. 
“Do  you  want  the  remains  taken  back  home?”  “Is 
there  anything  we  can  do  to  comfort  you?”  asked  her 
friend.  She  answered,  “No,  there  is  something  more 
vital,  more  real  and  more  controlling  in  my  love  for 
my  son,  and  what  he  was  and  did,  and  is,  than  any 
material  relationship  in  all  the  world.  Why,  my  dear 
boy  is  not  buried,  he  lives  in  my  very  soul  all  the  time. 
He  is  mine,  and  nothing  material  can  bind  him  or  take 
him  from  me.”  Some  of  you  know  something  of  her 
meaning,  something  of  the  vital  hold  which  eternal 

,  i 

things  have  upon  us. 

I  look  upon  the  portrait  of  my  mother,  and  is  it  the 
portrait  that  thrills  my  heart,  as  beautiful  as  that  may 
be?  After  returning  from  my  summer  outing,  the 
first  thing  I  longed  to  do,  and  did,  was  to  get  into  my 
home  and  turn  on  the  light  and  look  at  her  portrait.  I 
know  not  how,  but  somehow,  deep  in  these  souls  of 
ours,  there  is  something  that  death  can  never  separate  . 
from  us.  It  is  undefined;  it  is  unknown,  but  O,  how 
vital  and  real  it  is !  That  is  why  God  put  this  some¬ 
thing  we  call  “Faith”  into  the  great  casket  of  mystery. 
If  we  knew  and  understood  and  could  reach  up  and 
measure  the  height  and  the  depth,  it  would  not  be  what 
it  is.  “The  mysterious  city  lieth  four-square.”  All  the 
physical  beauty  of  that  city  has  been  revealed  in  the 
marvellous  pictures  of  Revelation — the  golden  streets, 


29 


THE  FOUR-SQUARE  LIFE 

the  gates  of  pearl,  the  twelve  kinds  of  precious  stones, 
the  crystal  river !  This  symbolism  is  wonderful.  The 
mystery  has  touched  the  infinite,  and  somehow,  like 
John  and  Paul,  we  feel  and  “see  through  a  glass 
darkly.”  “Now  we  know  in  part,”  but  the  “then”  shall 
come,  and  when  it  comes  we  shall  see  “face  to  face.” 
“We  shall  know  even  as  we  are  known.”  “We  shall 
be  like  Him  when  we  see  Him  as  He  is.” 

The  highest  moral  standard  is  there.  Naught  that 
defileth  shall  ever  enter  there;  none  whose  hands  are 
stained ;  none  whose  hearts  are  bereft  of  purity. 

We  may  have  the  three— -the  physical,  the  mental 
and  the  moral,  but  we  must  have  the  spiritual. 

What  do  we  care  primarily  whether  a  man  plays  golf 
bn  Sunday  or  not?  That  is  not  the  real  question. 
Here  is  the  question:  Does  he  take  the  one  day  in 
seven  for  personal  pleasure,  the  day  which  God  gave  to 
the  soul  to  develop  the  spiritual  side  of  life?  Is  he 
physically,  mentally  and  morally  all  that  he  should  be, 
but  void  of  spiritual  attainment?  “Remember  the 
Sabbath  Day  to  keep  it  holy.”  It  is  not  a  cold  command 
thrust  down  by  God  to  enforce  obedience  from  human 
beings.  No!  It  is  the  loving  and  wise  command  to 
seize  the  opportunity  for  the  human  soul  to  develop  the 
spiritual  side  of  life,  so  that  a  child  of  God  may  be  four¬ 
square.  It  is  to  protect  life  so  that  the  enemy  cannot 
get  in  on  the  hollow  side  left  unprotected.  Do  you 
leave  this  out  of  your  child’s  life?  He  is  facing  school, 
college,  the  world,  with  a  physical,  mental  and  moral 
development,  but  what  if  God  is  left  out? 

After  all,  the  life  we  live  here  is  very  short.  I 
talked  with  a  man  the  other  day,  seventy-four  years 


30  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

old.  He  said,  “My  father  lived  to  be  ninety-eight,  and 
I  wish  I  might  have  the  twenty- four  more  years,  but  I 
am  now  living  on  borrowed  time/’  He  seemed  as  well 
and  strong  as  a  man  of  fifty. 

I  read  the  other  day  of  a  farm  house  with  a  sign 
outside — “Horse  for  Sale.”  A  man  went  to  ask  about 
the  horse,  and  a  very  old  man  came  to  the  door,  ninety- 
nine  years  old.  He  said,  “I  do  not  know  much  about 
that  horse,  but  I  will  send  out  the  boy  to  talk  with  you.” 
He  sent  out  his  son  who  was  eighty  years  of  age.  Well, 
it  is  a  New  England  story.  People  live  to  old  age  and 
live  well  there. 

A  few  years  ago  a  member  of  this  parish  died  in 
her  one  hundredth  year.  As  I  remember,  she  died  on 
the  fifteenth  of  December.  If  she  had  lived  until 
the  twenty-eighth  she  would  have  been  one  hundred. 
I  went  to  her  ninety-ninth  birthday  when  she  tried 
to  blow  out  her  birthday  candles.  Well,  even  such 
old  age  is  short-lived. 

But,  our  human  souls  are  immortal.  These  three, 
four  or  five  score  years  are  very  short,  even  as  the 
grains  of  sand  we  pick  up  on  the  sea-shore  are  few 
in  number  to  the  sands  on  the  shore. 

What  then  about  this  fourth  dimension  ?  How  about 
the  spiritual  life?  To  consider  this  truth  this  very 
church  was  built.  The  House  of  God  exists  to  build 
up  our  lives  and  the  lives  of  our  children  with  a  true 
sense  and  interpretation  of  God.  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  placed  this  mystery  of  heaven  within  our  re¬ 
sponsibility.  “The  City  lieth  four-square.”  Are  we 
protecting  our  lives  on  the  fourth  side? 

Christ  came  to  be  the  Reconciler.  He  came  to  so 


31 


THE  FOUR-SQUARE  LIFE 

reveal  and  incarnate  (embody)  the  actual  mysterious¬ 
ness  of  God  that  men  might  understand  it.  That  is 
why  “the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us.” 
He  is  the  One  to  give  us  the  power  of  the  interpretation 
of  that  fourth  dimension  which  we  term  the  spiritual. 

That  is  the  truth  we  long  to  convey  this  morning.. 
What  are  we  as  God’s  people  physically,  mentally,  mor¬ 
ally  and  spiritually f  What  is  this  church  doing  to 
build  us  up  in  the  soul’s  highest  life  ?  We  are  to  reveal 
God  to  men  through  Jesus  Christ  His  Son.  This  re¬ 
sponsibility  is  yours  and  mine. 

i  A  few  years  ago  at  a  commencement  at  Yale,  they 
were  having  a  class  reunion.  The  fifty-year  men 
were  back.  It  had  been  a  record  class  in  the  number 
of  men  who  had  lived.  They  were  sitting  at  the 
class  reunion  dinner,  joking,  as  men  out  of  college 
many  years  will  joke,  calling  each  other  by  old  college 
nick-names  again;  when  a  white-bearded  man,  with 
snow-white  hair,  came  in  and  stood  before  the  table. 
Some  of  the  men  nudged  each  other,  saying,  “Bill, 
who  is  that?”  or,  “Jack,  what’s  his  name — was  he  in 
our  class?”  The  man  spoke  and  said,  “Boys,  you  do 
not  know  me,  do  you?”  They  were  ashamed  of  them¬ 
selves,  but  some  one  spoke  up  and  said,  “No,  we  do 
not.  Tell  us.”  Hesitating,  he  said:  “Wait  a  min¬ 
ute,”  and  then  going  to  the  door  he  called  to  a  lad 
outside — “Jack,  come  in  here!”  In  walked  a  splendid 
young  fellow,  alert  and  strong,  and  stood  before  them. 
The  father  said,  “Jack,  smile,”  and  instantly  the  crowd 
shouted,  “It’s  Jerry!  We  all  know  you !  Look  at  that 
smile;  that  body!  Why,  he  is  Jerry  right  over  again.” 

The  Almighty,  the  Eternal,  the  LLiknown,  Unrecog- 


32  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

nised  God  is  before  the  world  to-day,  and  only  Christ 
can  reveal  Him.  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He 
gave  His  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth 
on  Him  might  see  and  know  eternal  life,  and  through 
that  Son  of  God,  men  will  see  the  Father.  “He  that 
hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father,”  and  this  is  the 
meaning  of  the  fourth  great  dimension  of  life. 

The  curtain  of  life  must  be  lifted  that  we  may  see 
Eternity  and  the  Holy  City  which  standeth  four-square 
— physically,  mentally,  morally  and  spiritually.  Then 
we  will  respond  in  our  own  souls,  “Here  am  I  for  Thou 
hast  made  me  worthy.”  And  we  shall  “love  the  Lord 
our  God  with  all  our  hearts,  our  souls,  our  minds  and 
our  strength  and  our  neighbours  as  ourselves.” 


0 


III 

WINGS  LIKE  THE  EAGLE 

“But  they  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew 
their  strength;  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as 
eagles;  they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary;  they  shall 
walk  and  not  faint.”— -Isaiah  40:31. 

God’s  word  draws  some  of  its  most  remarkable  illus¬ 
trations  from  the  realm  of  natural  life.  The  ocean, 
the  mountains,  the  oak  of  the  forest,  the  cedars  of 
Lebanon,  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills,  the  fish,  the 
sparrow,  the  lily,  the  blade  of  grass-nature  holds  first 
place  in  the  word-picturing  of  the  Bible. 

The  exactness  of  usage  is  also  to  be  noted  in  this 
connection.  When  strength  of  physical  force  is  to 
be  illustrated,  the  writer  seeks  for  lessons  from  the 
lion — the  king  of  beasts— and  so  when  renewed  energy 
and  lasting  ambition  are  sought,  we  read  of  the  eagle, 
the  sole  monarch  of  all  the  feathered  tribe. 

The  eagle  is  sometimes  used  in  Scripture  to  show 
the  care  of  God  for  His  children,  as  in  the  song  of 
Moses,  where  He  refers  to  His  care  over  the  children 
of  Israel,  He  says ;  “As  an  eagle  that  stirreth  up  her 
nest,  that  fluttereth  over  her  young,  He  spread  abroad 
His  wings;  He  took  them,  He  bore  them  on  His  pin¬ 
ions;  so  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  Him,  and  there  was 
no  strange  God  with  Him.”  Picture,  if  you  will,  those 
wild  crags  of  the  region  about  Mount  Sinai,  with  their 

33 


34  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

steeple-like  pinnacles  of  rock;  look  in  upon  those  deep 
fastnesses  on  the  very  top  ledges;  glance  at  that  nest 
upon  the  shelf  of  that  crevice;  see  the  parent-birds  as 
they  hover  far  above,  watching  over  the  nest  for  safety. 
To  the  North,  East,  South  and  West  all  is  one  wild, 
unsheltered,  mountain  wilderness.  Moses  had  ascended 
those  peaks.  Much  of  his  earlier  life  had  been  spent 
in  the  companionship  of  nature.  He  knew  the  strength 
of  the  figure,  for  his  inmost  soul  cried  out,  and  thus  it 
was  that  he  used  that  which  appealed  to  him  with  the 
most  force. 

Perhaps  he  had  watched  the  eagle  in  her  dealing 
with  her  young.  Climbing  up  those  crags  he  had 
been  strangely  fascinated,  as  all  unexpectedly  he  had 
come  near  to  that  mountain  home,  and  sheltered  from 
view  he  had  watched  those  parent-birds  as  they  crowded 
their  young  from  the  nest,  and  gave  them  their  first 
lessons  in  soaring.  It  had  left  a  very  vivid  impression 
on  his  mind.  It  now  comes  back  to  him,  as  he  tells 
in  song  of  the  goodness  of  God,  the  Great  Parent,  to 
the  children  of  Israel. 

The  eagle  is  also  pictured  in  God’s  Word  as  illus¬ 
trating  the  sudden  and  dire  attack  of  the  enemies  of 
Israel,  coming  upon  them  in  punishment;  swift, 
strong,  without  warning,  fatal.  His  swiftness  is  also 
used  to  show  the  sudden  loss  of  riches.  His  baldness 
to  show  the  increasing  calamities  of  the  wicked.  The 
height  and  seclusion  of  His  dwelling  to  show  the  fan¬ 
cied  security  of  the  wicked.  His  hastening  to  the  prey 
to  reveal  the  swiftness  of  man’s  days.  He  was  enumer¬ 
ated  among  the  list  of  unclean  birds  in  Israel.  Atten¬ 
tion  is  also  called  to  his  being  the  royal  emblem  of 


WINGS  LIKE  THE  EAGLE 


35 

the  Roman  armies.  But  it  is  not  along  these  lines 
that  we  wish  to  consider  this  subject,  but  rather  to 
learn  from  the  natural  characteristics  of  his  life  some 
of  the  lessons  Scripture,  together  with  the  science  of 
birds  teach  us. 

Realising  this,  “so  it  shall  be  with  us  if  we  wait 
upon  the  Lord,”  as  our  text  suggests.  We  read  in  Job, 
chapter  thirty-nine,  verses  twenty-seven  to  thirty, 
“Doth  the  eagle  mount  up  at  thy  command,  and  make 
her  nest  on  high?  She  dwelleth  on  the  rock  and  hath 
her  lodging  there,  upon  the  crag  of  the  rock  and  the 
stronghold.  From  thence  she  spieth  out  the  prey;  her 
eyes  behold  it  afar  off.  Her  young  ones  also  suck  up 
blood;  and  where  the  slain  are,  there  is  she.” 

A  HOME  ON  THE  ROCK 

Together  with  our  text,  the  first  thought  here  is, 
“mounting  upward.”  She  ever  aimeth  upward  as  she 
starts  to  fly.  Her  highway  is  in  the  clouds.  The 
avenue  of  her  parade  is  in  the  clear  upper  air.  She 
looks  beneath  her  to  see  others;  her  own  course  ever 
lieth  above.  When  she  darts  below,  it  is  quickly  to 
ascend  again,  and  although  she  knows  the  earth,  and 
lives  from  the  earth,  she  spends  her  time  above.  Job 
goes  on  to  say,  “She  makes  her  nest  on  high;  she 
dwelleth  on  the  rock  and  hath  her  lodging  there,  upon 
the  crag  of  the  rock  and  the  stronghold.” 

Not  satisfied  with  soaring  herself,  her  home  must 
be  safe  “on  the  rock.”  True,  the  beasts  of  the  earth 
could  quickly  tear  that  nest  to  pieces  and  devour  the 
young.  True,  the  blasts  of  the  forest  can  fell  even 
the  huge  trees.  But,  look  at  that  time-worn,  weather- 


36  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

beaten,  torrent-washed  rock!  What  has  ever  harmed 
it?  There  it  stands  like  an  eternal  sentinel.  Let  the 
enemy  come:  they  cannot  ascend  that  cliff.  Let  the 
storm  beat  it :  it  cannot  rend  that  storm-king.  Let  the 
rain  fall :  the  mother-eagle  is  there  upon  the  nest  to 
cover  the  young,  and  the  rock  foundation  knows  no 
fear.  The  clear,  breezy  air  will  soon  dry  the  nest,  for  it 
is  high  up  on  the  rock.  The  nest  is  the  home.  A  home 
on  the  rock.  What  a  thought ! 

See  that  human  life  trying  to  make  a  home.  What 
has  been  the  trouble?  Habit  has  torn  the  weavings  of 
that  nest.  Sin  has  blown  it  asunder.  Wild  beasts  have 
already  reached  out  their  awful  terrors  to  frighten  the 
young.  The  serpent  has  even  hissed  near  them  and 
shown  his  treacherous  fangs.  The  parents  have  become 
discouraged  and  forlorn.  Stop!  Wretched  one!  Look 
yonder  at  the  eagle’s  nest.  It  is  on  the  rock.  Where  is 
your  home  built?  Listen!  The  Saviour  of  men  is 
speaking:  “And  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods 
came,  and  the  winds  blew  and  beat  upon  the  house,  and 
it  fell  not,  for  it  was  founded  upon  a  rock.”  “For  in 
the  time  of  trouble  He  shall  hide  me  in  His  pavilion, 
in  the  secret  of  His  tabernacle  shall  He  hide  me;  He 
shall  set  me  up  upon  a  rock.”  “Oh!  come,  let  us 
sing  unto  the  Lord;  let  us  make  a  joyful  noise  to  the 
Rock  of  our  salvation.” 

Cry  to  God,  with  the  eagle,  not  for  yourself  alone, 
but  for  your  home.  “Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me,  let 
me  hide  myself  in  Thee.”  Yes,  she  “makes  her  nest  on 
high,  dwelleth  on  the  rock,  and  hath  her  lodging  there, 
upon  the  crag  of  the  rock  and  the  stronghold.” 

That  rock-bound  home,  however,  must  be  a  place 


WINGS  LIKE  THE  EAGLE 


3T 


of  training  as  well  as  a  safe  abode.  The  eagle’s  life 
resembles  man  in  the  slow  development  of  the  young, 
as  well  as  in  its  great  age.  Eagles  have  been  known  to 
live  a  century,  according  to  our  best  naturalists.  The 
maturity  of  their  young  is  not  attained  until  they  are 
about  three  years  of  age;  in  fact,  the  true  plumage  does 
not  appear  until  that  time  in  most  branches  of  the 
family. 

THE  EAGLE’S  FIRST  FLIGHT 

But  the  parent-bird  urges  them  to  flight  at  the 
appropriate  time.  This  is  attempted  in  various  ways. 
She  crowds  them  from  the  nest.  She  places  their  food 
far  enough  from  them  so  that  the  eaglet  must  reach  out 
from  the  nest  to  get  it.  She  gains  their  attention  as 
she  soars  out  toward  the  sun,  each  time  going  a  little 
farther  than  before.  She  even  pushes  them  off  from 
the  nest,  so  that  they  are  forced  to  use  their  wings. 
The  thought  is  not  accurate  that  she  urges  them  to  fall 
from  the  nest  and  then  quickly  swoops  under  them. 
Without  doubt,  she  frequently  bears  them  on  her  wing; 
or,  rather,  on  her  shoulder  or  back,  as  they  become 
tired.  But,  her  aim  is  always  to  have  them  start  to 
fly  upward.  “Like  as  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest, 
fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreads  abroad  her  wings, 
taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her  wings,”  is  all  true  to 
nature,  but  “she  spreadeth  abroad  her  wings”  that  they 
may  do  the  same ;  she  takes  them  and  bears  them  on  her 
pinions  when  they  fail  or  are  weak. 

Thus  the  home-nest  is  the  place  for  training  the  child 
to  do  for  himself.  What  if  that  mother-bird  saw, 
after  frequent  urging,  as  the  months  went  by,  that 


38  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

there  was  no  desire  on  the  part  of  the  eaglet  to  do 
his  part,  then  there  would’  be  need  of  force,  for  if 
that  bird  did  not  start  it  would  soon  waste  away  and 
die.  Force  may  be  needed  to  show  the  young  thing 
the  use  of  its  wings. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  northern  country  of  Asia  one 
family  of  the  great  eagles  is  in  the  habit  of  going 
to  a  distant  spot  and  plucking  a  mountain  thorn,  sharp 
and  long,  and,  bringing  it  to  the  nest,  she  buries  the 
same  in  the  soft  down  and  grass  which  lines  its  sides; 
some  of  that  down,  perchance,  taken  from  her  own 
breast  to  make  that  home  comfortable  and  warm. 
Then,  as  the  young  birds,  now  needing  the  exercise- 
of  their  wings  and  limbs,  settle  back  in  comfort,  she 
crowds  them  on  to  the  hidden  thorn,  and  they  are 
aroused. 

May  this  thought  not  be  used  to  comfort  some  of 
us  as  to  the  great  Heavenly  Father,  as  at  times  He 
may  see  us  settling  down  amid  life’s  comforts,  instead 
of  using  our  gifts  for  Him;  and  ought  we  to  complain 
when  we  feel  the  prick  which  prompts  us  to  service 
and  life,  which,  perhaps,  prompts  us  away  from  that 
soul-lethargy  which  means  death?  u 

But,  as  I  said,  the  bird  urges  the  younger  bird  to 
fly  upward.  How  many  there  are  in  this  broad  world 
who  want  their  children  to  be  all  that  they  ought  to 
be,  as  the  world  looks  at  life,  who  do  not  teach  them 
to  fly  upward?  They  want  the  body  to  be  right;  the 
mind  to  be  superior;  the  heart  to  be  gentle  and  kind, 
but  what  of  the  soul  ?  Are  they  teaching  that  younger 
life  to  fly  upward? 

A  youth  in  one  of  our  leading  Eastern  colleges  was 


WINGS  LIKE  THE  EAGLE 


39 


about  to  graduate.  A  serious  accident  to  a  classmate 
had  awakened  a  deep  religious  feeling  throughout  the 
class.  This  young  man  was  approached  by  a  friend 
as  to  giving  his  life  to  God  and  His  service.  He  made 
reply:  “Oh,  no!  I  don’t  believe  in  that  sort  of  thing. 
The  last  thing  my  father  said  to  me  on  leaving  home, 
four  years  ago,  was  not  to  get  mixed  up  with  any 
of  their  religious  nonsense,”  and  I  guess  I  will  stand 
by  the  governor.”  Had  that  father  pushed  the  lad 
from  the  home-nest  to  fly  upward?  If  the  older  bird 
has  taught  the  eaglet  to  fly  upward,  there  need  be  no 
fear  as  to  the  storm  or  foe,  for  once  having  learned 
the  power  of  upward  flight,  that  life  will  never  be  satis¬ 
fied  with  the  lower  abiding-place,  nor  the  lower  air. 
The  child  is  safe  for  time  and  eternity. 

One  thought  of  comfort  to  those  who  feel  lonely 
and  forlorn  because  the  home-nest  has  been  vacated: 
Think  of  the  joy  of  soaring  youth — that  joy  you  have 
made  possible.  Your  treasure  is  not  lost  because  it  has 
flown.  Do  you  not  remember  the  happiness  when 
first  you  began  to  fly  into  new  air  of  thought  and 
knowledge?  Of  course,  much  that  you  did  now  seems 
old  to  you — the  freshness  of  it  is  all  gone — but  that 
young  life  is  in  its  first  great  joy  of  upward  flight. 

The  great  strength  of  the  wing  is  alluded  to  in  our 
text :  “They  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles.” 
Without  its  wings,  the  eagle  would  not  be  an  eagle,  as 
far  as  any  of  its  possibilities  are  concerned.  It  might 
long  to  soar,  but  it  could  not.  It  might  be  upon  the 
mountain-top,  but  if  it  fell  without  wings,  it  could 
never  regain  its  position.  It  could  not  fight  with  the 
beasts  of  the  wood,  if  it  could  not  fly  from  their  attack. 


40  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

It  would  soon  become  battered  by  the  very  winds  and 
storms  in  which  it  revels,  had  it  not  wings. 

The  power  of  the  eagle’s  wing  is  marvellous.  Natu¬ 
ralists  tell  us  that  it  is  equalled  by  few  parallels  in  the 
world  of  life  or  mechanism.  This  bird,  with  wings 
measuring  some  seven  feet  from  tip  to  tip,  flies  in  the 
very  teeth  of  the  driving  storm  with  perfect  ease. 
Not  satisfied  with  flying  or  sailing  with  the  wind,  she 
openly  defies  the  storm.  She  looks  down  upon  the 
black  cloud  beneath  her  lofty  eyrie,  and  then,  after  an 
upward  flight,  sinks  into  its  very  blackness  to  rise  in 
battlings  against  it.  Yonder  the  mountain-ash  gives 
way  under  the  terrific  blasts  of  the  storm;  but,  the 
eagle,  with  her  wild  cry,  sweeps  into  the  very  face  of 
the  storm  in  open  combat. 

THE  SWEEPING  WINGS 

Think  of  the  speed  of  those  wings  as  well.  Is  it 
strange  that  Moses  was  told  to  cry  out  to  the  Israelites 
that  if  they  were  disobedient  “their  enemies  should 
come  down  upon  them  swift  as  an  eagle’s  flight’’  ?  Job 
tells  us  in  the  verses  already  quoted  that  “from  the 
crag  she  seeketh  her  prey,  and  her  eyes  behold  afar 
off.” 

The  method  of  obtaining  food,  often  resorted  to  by 
the  bald,  or  white-headed,  eagle  of  our  country,  well 
illustrates  this  speed. 

Perched  high  upon  some  distant  point,  upon  the 
highest  naked  tree  of  the  crag,  this  bird  views  the 
landscape  all  about,  until  it  sees  the  osprey  about  to 
dart  for  the  fish  in  the  stream  below.  Keenly  he 
watches,  and  as  the  successful  fisherman,  with  triumph- 


WINGS  LIKE  THE  EAGLE 


41 


ant  cry,  rises  from  the  water  with  its  victim  firmly 
held,  the  eagle  swiftly  follows,  and,  free  from  all  in¬ 
cumbrance,  soon  reaches  the  victor  with  its  prize. 
Circling  about  it  with  threatening  attitude,  the  smaller 
bird  in  fear  drops  the  fish,  whereupon  the  eagle,  with 
careful,  swift  aim,  descends  and  captures  the  fish  be¬ 
fore  it  reaches  the  earth  or  stream. 

Its  speed  has  frequent  illustration  likewise  in  its 
bold  attack  when  driven  by  hunger  and  want.  The 
golden  eagle  has  been  the  most  known  in  this  capacity. 
It  has  been  seen  to  snatch  the  hare  from  almost  the 
very  jaws  of  the  pursuing  pack  of  dogs.  It  has 
snatched  infants  from  their  mothers  who  left  them 
only  for  a  moment  and  had  removed  but  a  few  feet 
away.  It  has  stolen  the  lamb  from  the  very  side  of  the 
shepherd,  armed  as  he  was  with  his  strong  staff,  but 
ere  he  could  wield  a  blow,  its  strong  wings  had  carried 
eagle  and  lamb  beyond  his  reach.  Again,  with  Job, 
we  repeat  as  he  speaks  of  the  years,  “they  fly  as  swift 
as  ships,  as  eagles  that  hasten  to  the  prey.” 

Again  our  text  says :  “They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord 
shall  renew  their  strength;  they  shall  mount  up  with 
wings  as  eagles.”  This  strength  shall  be  ours — tireless, 
constant.  Is  it  not  true  then  that  God’s  strength  is 
made  perfect  in  weakness?  No  figure  of  natural 
strength  could  mean  more  to  us  than  the  eagle’s  wing. 
With  such  shall  we  mount  upward,  if  we  wait  on  Him. 

SOLITUDE 

Again,  the  eagle  is  above  all  birds — the  one  which 
dwells  in  solitude.  He  dwells  afar  from  man  and 
beast.  He  flies  often  into  the  wilderness.  John  writes 


42  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

in  Revelation :  “And  there  were  given  to  the  woman 
the  two  wings  of  a  great  eagle,  that  she  might  fly  into 
the  wilderness  unto  her  place.”  The  wilderness  is  her 
place.  She  knows  what  it  is  to  be  solitary.  How 
many  of  us  there  are  who  are  afraid  to  be  alone !  We 
cry,  “society!”  Yes,  and  the  world  would  be  a  strange 
place  if  we  had  not  social  lives,  but  God  pity  the  man 
who  is  afraid  to  face  the  realities  of  his  life  alone  at 
times.  The  social  fever  of  our  day  is  due  largely  to  a 
natural  environment,  and  it  is  all  right.  We  would 
not  have  it  otherwise;  but,  do  not  let  your  life  with 
others  rob  you  of  solitary  thought.  Sometimes  our 
continuance  of  sociability  acts  as  a  sort  of  stimulant  to 
a  sin-sick  body,  and  life,  and  a  time  of  solitude  would 
reveal  the  true  life  as  it  is  and  give  the  possibility  of 
one’s  coming  to  himself.  Solomon  tells  us  that  “the 
way  of  the  eagle  is  the  air.”  That  way  is  a  solitary 
way. 

IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  SUN 

The  most  marvellous  faculty  of  the  eagle  we  have 
not  yet  touched.  We  refer  to  her  vision.  Alone  among 
birds,  she  can  look  without  fear  into  the  very  fiercest 
brightness  of  the  sun.  She  takes  great  voyages  out 
toward  the  sun,  with  her  eyes  fixed  thereon.  Instead 
of  seeming  to  deaden  her  vision,  it  seems  to  quicken  it. 
She  sees  her  prey  from  afar.  She  watches  her  young 
from  the  highest  heavens.  Her  vision  surpasses  the 
understanding  and  analysis  of  the  oculist.  God  framed 
that  wonderful  eye;  man  never  could.  That  eye  is  not 
annoyed  by  the  flash  of  the  vivid  lightning;  not  if  the 
flash  is  at  her  side.  The  upward  glance  of  the  eagle 


WINGS  LIKE  THE  EAGLE 


43 


to  the  sun  is  said  to  arouse  all  her  inward  power,  and 
awaken  her  physical  activity.  This  glance  is  the  secret 
of  that  very  renewing  life  which  so  ennobles  the  bird. 
^Weariness  and  faintness,  the  very  thoughts  of  our 
text,  are  dispelled  by  that  glance  at  the  meridian  sun. 

Rev.  John  MacNeal  tells  us  in  one  of  his  sermons 
of  an  eaglet  which  was  captured  by  an  old  Scotch 
hunter  in  the  highlands  of  his  home  land.  The  man 
brought  it  home  to  his  child  for  a  pet.  Having  noth¬ 
ing  for  a  cage,  but  an  old  house,  latticed  years  before 
for  hens  and  chickens,  he  made  this  the  home  of  the 
young  eagle.  Months  passed  and  the  boy  and  the  eagle 
grew  fond  of  each  other.  Months  grew  into  years. 
The  bird  had  become  large  and  full-grown,  but  seemed 
perfectly  contented  with  its  narrow  home  and  daily 
food.  One  day  the  boy  let  the  eagle  out  into  the  yard. 
He  seemed  afraid  to  stretch  his  legs.  He  seemed 
alarmed  as  he  tried  to  spread  his  great,  broad  wings. 
At  last  they  placed  him  on  the  stone  wall  of  the  garden. 
With  an  effort  he  descended  to  the  ground.  The  sun 
was  rising  higher  and  higher,  for  the  day  was  young 
as  yet.  In  time  the  eagle  walked  back  into  his  accus¬ 
tomed  pen,  apparently  perfectly  satisfied.  The  next 
day  when  the  sun  was  high  in  the  heavens,  the  boy 
opened  the  pen  again,  and  after  urging  the  eagle  out, 
placed  him  on  the  wall  as  he  looked  into  the  face  of  the 
great  sun.  It  seemed  bewildered  for  a  moment.  Then, 
with  almost  frightened  enthusiasm,  it  stretched  forth 
its  great  wings,  and  in  a  moment  more,  with  its  eyes 
still  gazing  on  the  sun,  it  mounted  upward.  On  and 
on  it  went.  The  lad,  helpless  and  overcome,  cried  in 
vain  for  his  return.  He  watched  the  bird,  until,  a  tiny 


44  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

speck  between  him  and  the  sun,  it  disappeared  alto¬ 
gether.  The  eagle  was  gone  forever.  It  had  gazed 
into  the  heart  of  the  sun.  No  longer  the  pen  for  its 
home.  It  evermore  would  dwell  on  the  mountain-tops. 

Where  is  your  life?  Are  you  bounding  your  talents 
and  gifts  (God-given  gifts)  by  man’s  surrounding? 
Look  at  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  Righteousness.  Look 
into  His  heart  of  burning  love.  Listen:  “And  I,  if  I 
be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.”  Mount  on 
those  wings  with  your  eye  fixed  on  Him.  Soar !  Soar 
higher !  Mount  up  with  wings  like  eagles  !  “For  I  am 
come  that  ye  might  have  life,  and  that  ye  might  have 
it  more  abundantly.”  // 


IV 


A  NEW  HEAVEN  AND  A  NEW  EARTH 


“And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth :  for  the 
first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away, 
and  there  was  no  more  sea.” — Revelation  21  :i. 


There  are  five  great  truths  in  this  text : 


First : 
Second : 
Third: 

Fourth  : 
Fifth  : 


We  find  the  thought  of  vision — “I  saw  a 
new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.” 

The  thought  of  novelty — “I  saw  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth.” 

The  thought  of  sequence  or  order— First 
he  saw  a  new  heaven ,  and  then  he  saw  a 
new  earth . 

The  thought  of  destruction — The  first 
heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  no  more. 
The  thought  of  the  end  of  mystery — ■ 
“There  was  no  more  sea.” 


Briefly  this  morning,  let  us  consider  these  five  truths 
as  related  to  the  great  truth  of  the  resurrection. 

First:  “I  saw  a  new  heaven.”  The  soul  is  dead  that 
knows  not  vision.  You  say  some  people  have  imagina¬ 
tion  and  some  have  not.  It  is  true  that  the  imagination 
is  somewhat  a  matter  of  degree.  That  is  why  in  our 
schools  and  kindergartens  to-day  we  are  seeking  to 
develop  the  imaginative  in  the  child’s  nature.  There 

45 


46  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

was  a  time  when  imagination  was  left  to  later  days  and 
was  not  developed  in  our  early  school  system.  We 
can  remember  the  days  of  the  first,  second  and  third 
readers,  when  the  thought  was  commitment.  The  stu¬ 
dent  must  memorize.  We  can  remember  when  our 
scholarship  depended  upon  our  ability  to  commit  to 
memory.  Some  of  us  have  never  been  blessed  by  re¬ 
markable  memories,  and  perhaps  are  glad  that  times 
have  changed  and  are  emphasising  the  development  of 
initiative,  thus  giving  the  imagination  a  chance. 

This  great  nation  is  more  a  nation  of  inventive 
genius  than  any  other  nation  in  the  world.  Every  day 
there  are  new  developments.  If  you  had  been  told 
twenty-five  years  ago  that  you  could  pick  up  a  tele¬ 
phone  instrument  and  telephone  by  wireless,  nobody 
would  have  believed  you  were  sane,  and  still  the  things 
which  are  actually  happening  to-day  in  the  experience 
of  the  hour  are  largely  the  result  of  a  great  inventive 
genius,  which  has  always  been  related  largely  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  although  experienced  by  others. 

It  is  just  so  in  the  spiritual  realm.  This  is  the  reason 
that  some  one  invents  a  new  religion  every  day,  because 
the  inventive  genius  goes  out  into  thought  and  men¬ 
tality,  as  well  as  the  adaptableness  of  the  use  of  the 
hands.  Here  it  may  have  harmful  influence.  There 
is  a  great  danger  because  it  may  take  us  from  the 
moorings  of  the  soul;  nevertheless,  this  spirit  of  seek¬ 
ing  the  new  is  a  part  of  the  great  plan  of  God. 

A  man  without  a  vision  is  a  man  without  a  soul; 
his  soul  becomes  stolid  and  petrified.  We  want  to  see 
the  things  beyond  us;  we  love  to  close  our  eyes  and 
behold,  when  the  singing  of  a  great  hymn  fills  the 


NEW  HEAVEN  AND  NEW  EARTH  47 


Church  of  God,  for  the  imagination  has  memories! 

We  see  scenes  which  we  have  never  seen  before.  There 

is  something  we  call  a  thrill  that  goes  up  the  very  spine, 

and  a  man  feels  a  keen  emotion  of  soul.  It  is  the 

* 

vision  of  the  soul — the  seeing  into  the  past  or  into  the 
beyond.  There  is  a  great  craving  to-day  in  the  hearts 
of  men  to  know  the  unseen  world,  or  a  longing  of  the 
soul  to  see  those  in  the  other  world  whom  human  eyes 
cannot  see.  And,  unless  we  exercise  great  care,  we 
will  be  drawn  away  into  vague  mysteries  which  are  not 
hallowed,  seeking  to  know  the  things  which  God  has 
withheld  from  those  who  trust  Him. 

We  must  be  exceedingly  careful  that  the  vision  of 
the  soul  does  not  go  so  far  that  we  become  visionary. 
We  need  the  vision  of  the  soul !  The  mystical  has  its 
place.  What  a  wonderful  hymn  this  is : 

“Jesus,  these  eyes  have  never  seen 
That  radiant  form  of  Thine; 

The  veil  of  sense  hangs  dark 

Between  Thy  blessed  face  and  mine. 

“I  see  Thee  not ;  I  hear  Thee  not, 

Yet  art  Thou  oft  with  me; 

And  earth  hath  ne’er  so  dear  a  spot 
As  where  I  meet  with  Thee. 

“Like  some  bright  dream  that  comes  unsought, 

When  slumbers  o’er  me  roll, 

Thine  image  ever  fills  my  thought, 

And  charms  my  ravished  soul.” 

There  is  something  in  such  vision  of  the  soul  which 
is  most  inspiring.  We  may  not  be  mystics,  but  we 
need  something  of  this  vision  of  the  unseen. 

W  hen  the  little  child  closes  her  eyes  at  night  as  you 
turn  out  the  light,  you  hear  a  little  voice  say : 


48 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 


“Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep, 

I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep. 

If  I  should  die  before  I  wake, 

I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  take.” 

Why  was  that  little  prayer  the  most  popular  prayer 
in  the  trenches?  Some  of  those  dear  fellows  did  not 
realise  what  it  was  to  pray,  but  “Now  I  lay  me’’  was 
their  prayer  because  it  was  associated  with  the  endear¬ 
ments  of  the  home  and  the  loving  touch  of  their  child¬ 
hood.  The  vision  returned. 

This  is  the  vision  of  the  soul  we  must  see.  Some¬ 
times  parents  thoughtlessly  say  to  little  children  in  the 
dark — “You  will  see  things” — “The  goblins  will  get 
you  if  you  don’t  watch  out!”  This  is  all  wrong,  for 
a  child  ought  to  have  associated  with  the  hours  of  dark¬ 
ness  that  which  is  inspiring  and  helpful  that  the  child 
may  gain  that  vision  of  the  soul — “Now  I  lay  me  down 
to  sleep;  I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep.”  The 
Scripture  says  the  angels  of  God  watch  over  the  little 
ones. 

Second:  The  Thought  of  Novelty.  “I  saw  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth.”  We  need  more  than  vision. 
He  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.  We  use  the 
wrord  “novelty”  as  related  to  some  plaything  for  a 
child.  We  find  in  all  the  department  stores  a  section 
or  department  of  “novelties.”  A  novelty  is  something 
out  of  the  ordinary.  But  the  word  novelty  has  here 
the  thought  of  newness — a  beginning,  a  new  life,  a 
new  opportunity.  The  vision  of  the  soul  shows  that 
which  is  new  and  which  is  priceless,  because  it  has  the 
beginning  in  it,  the  new  chance.  “Every  day  is  a  new 
beginning.”  Every  day  begins  a  new  effort.  “A  new 


NEW  HEAVEN  AND  NEW  EARTH  49 


heaven  and  a  new  earth/’  and  that  newness  means 
something  we  have  not  seen  and  found.  Why  God 
has  greater  things  prepared  for  the  believer  than  we 
have  ever  dreamed  of ! 

I  had  a  dear  friend  who  died  many  years  ago.  She 
said  that  always  when  she  returned  home  from  college 
she  expected  something  new  in  her  room  in  their  home 
— sometimes  a  piano,  or  a  new  desk,  or  a  new  chair — 
something  new,  and  she  always  anticipated  it.  As  she 
was  dying,  she  said:  “Do  you  suppose  my  earthly 
father  is  better  than  my  heavenly  Father  will  be?  I 
am  dying,  but  'eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.’  I  believe 
that  the  One  who  went  to  prepare  a  place  for  me  has 
a  new  room;  has  something  more  beautiful  than  I  have 
ever  dreamed  of  for  me.” 

Third:  Now  notice  the  sequence,  our  third  thought. 
Notice  the  order — “A  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.” 
Human  beings  put  day  before  night.  God  always  puts 
night  before  day.  In  the  creation  period  you  will  find 
that  the  Scripture  says :  “And  the  evening  and  the 
morning  were  the  first  day,”  not  the  morning  and  the 
evening — that  is  the  way  we  begin.  That  is  where  the 
Cotter’s  “Saturday  Night”  started ;  the  night  of  prepa¬ 
ration,  then  the  day  of  blessing.  A  natural  sequence. 

The  day  goes  wrong  with  many  of  us  because  the 
night  is  not  started  aright,  and  we  do  not  live  the 
night  aright.  How  can  you  expect  young  men  in  mod¬ 
ern  social  life  to  become  successful  in  business  when 
that  social  life,  in  many  instances,  compels  them  to  stay 
up  until  two  or  three  o’clock  in  the  morning,  entertain- 


50  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

ing?  The  reform  of  society  must  begin  with  the  night 
and  not  with  the  day. 

“I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth/'  We  can 
never  have  a  “new  earth”  until  we  have  a  “new 
heaven.”  The  new  heaven  must  precede.  Christ  said 
heaven  begins  here.  There  is  no  heaven  there  that  has 
not  begun  here .  You  must  see  a  new  heaven  before 
you  can  have  a  new  earth.  This  is  the  trouble  with 
reform.  We  think  we  can  reform  this  world  into 
righteousness.  It  can  never  be  done,  because  sin  means 
death.  This  resurrection  truth  is  life.  It  is  the  raising 
from  the  dead.  The  night,  the  new  heaven,  must  pre¬ 
cede  the  new  earth.  But,  you  say,  you  cannot  see  the 
heaven !  Neither  can  you  see  the  night,  but  out  of  the 
night  dawns  the  great  morn. 

Have  you  seen  the  sun  rise  in  the  distant  East? 
Have  you  looked  over  the  great  lake  and  seen  the  sun 
rise  as  it  comes  up  from  the  water?  The  grey  light 
of  dawn  as  it  reveals  something  coming  out  of  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  then  gradually  the  great 
orb  bursts  out  on  the  horizon,  blending  the  red,  the 
salmon,  the  gold  of  the  king  of  day,  as  he  shows  him¬ 
self  !  The  day  has  come,  but  it  came  out  of  the  night. 

God  wants  us  to  have  a  new  heaven  in  our  hearts. 
We  must  go  back  to  the  original  pattern.  Christ  said, 
“The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you.”  The  new 
earth  must  come  as  a  result  of  the  new  heaven.  We 
must  have  a  new  vision  of  heaven.  Heaven  must  be 
within  before  it  can  be  without.  A  new  earth  follows 
this  new  heaven. 

Fourth:  Now  notice,  “I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a 


NEW  HEAVEN  AND  NEW  EARTH  51 


new  earth,  but  the  old  heaven  and  the  old  earth  were 
passed  away.” 

When  we  come  to  destruction,  we  all  feel  as  if  we 
were  iconoclasts,  and  say,  no,  keep  the  old  things 
and  let  them  remain  in  our  hearts  and  lives.  Have  we 
ever  realised  this :  that  a  continual  holding  to  ourselves 
and  keeping  that  which  is  dear  to  us  and  the  past  may 
rob  us  of  the  future?  We  can  have  such  a  clinging 
to  our  possessions  that  we  destroy  the  possibilities  and 
possessions  of  the  future. 

You  look  into  the  face  of  your  little  child  and  say,c 
“I  wish  my  child  could  always  be  young.”  How  lovely 
it  is  to  see  a  little  child  rejoicing  and  glorying  in  this 
Easter  Season!  So  happy  over  the  Easter  eggs  that 
were  placed  at  her  plate  at  the  breakfast  table !  Oh, 
that  we  could  always  keep  them  as  little  children!” 
But  no,  they  must  grow  and  develop.  What  sadder 
sight  than  to  see  a  child  failing  to  grow  and  mature 
as  the  years  pass !  The  joys  of  childhood  deepen  into 
the  greater  joys  of  full  and  complete  life.  We  must 
“put  away  childish  things.”  “When  I  was  a  child  I 
spake  as  a  child,  I  understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as 
a  child :  but  when  I  became  a  man  I  put  away  childish 
things.  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly;  but 
then  face  to  face ;  now  I  know  in  part ;  but  then  shall 
I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known.” 

If  we  cling  continually  to  the  old  and  to  all  the 
traditions  and  associations  of  it,  we  will  simply  destroy 
the  new,  for  the  old  must  pass  away  to  make  place 
for  the  new. 

I  read  from  one  of  our  great  Englishmen  this  last 
week,  an  essay  in  which  he  said  to  the  youth  of  Eng- 


52  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

land,  “Young  men,  live  in  all  the  thrill  of  your  out' 
door  competition ;  let  the  spirit  of  the  cricket  field  mean 
all  to’you  that  it  may  and  has  to  the  youth  of  England, 
but  remember  you  are  facing  a  life  service  where  there 
will  be  need  of  all  you  can  gain  on  that  athletic  field  of 
determination,  strength  and  reliance!  and  remember 
that  ‘life  is  real  and  life  is  earnest,’  ”  quoting  those 
wonderful  words  of  our  own  Longfellow: 

“Life  is  real,  life  is  earnest, 

And  the  grave  is  not  its  goal. 

Dust  thou  art,  to  dust  returneth 
Was  not  spoken  of  the  soul. 

“Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us. 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime. 

And  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time.,, 

The  new  heaven  must  be  in  the  soul  if  the  new  earth 
is  to  come  among  men.  Jesus  Christ  represented  that 
new  heaven  when  He  said,  “The  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
is  in  your  midst.” 

Fifth  and  lastly:  Mystery  ends  when  vision  becomes 
sight.  “And  there  was  no  more  sea  ” 

The  great  ocean  means  mystery.  Napoleon  standing 
on  the  deck  of  the  vessel  during  his  last  sea  voyage 
said,  “No  man  is  great.  This  is  vastness.”  Oh,  that 
he  had  learned  the  lesson  earlier. 

The  sea  tells  the  story  of  mystery  and  majesty.  Its 
vastness  includes  its  very  mystery.  Hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  unknown  dead  it  might  give  up.  Its  far- 
reaching  shores  lap  the  untrodden  Arctic  and  Antarc¬ 
tic.  Its  bosom  receives  the  waters  of  myriad  rivers 
whose  mouths  are  seldom  seen  by  man.  Its  unfathomed 


NEW  HEAVEN  AND  NEW  EARTH  53 

depths  contain  life  unknown  to  biologist  or  student. 
Its  streams  and  currents  still  mystify  the  mariner  and 
necessitate  new  maps  and  charts.  But,  in  the  day  of 
the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  there  shall  be  no 
more  sea.  “Now  we  know  in  part,  but  then  shall  we 
know  even  as  also  we  are  known.”  “Now  abideth  faith, 
hope  and  love,  these  three,  but  the  greatest  of  these  is 
love.”  “And  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  on 
Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life.” 

Yes,  in  the  day  of  that  new  heaven  and  new  earth 
mystery  will  be  gone,  even  as  the  stone  was  rolled 
away  from  the  sepulchre.  The  Lord  of  light  had  arisen 
from  the  dead.  This  was  not  even  as  it  was  at  the 
grave  of  Lazarus,  for  here  the  stone  must  be  rolled 
away  to  let  him  forth,  but  the  Saviour  was  gone.  The 
tomb  had  lost  its  victory,  for  He  had  risen. 

All  is  new.  There  is  no  more  sea.  There  is  no 
longer  the  mystery,  for  faith  hath  become  sight.  “And 
I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  for  the  first 
heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away,  and  there 
was  no  more  sea.”  In  that  new  heaven  and  new  earth 
there  dwelleth  righteousness. 

This  is  the  vision  and  message  of  the  Easter  Day. 


V 


BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL 

“And  Balaam  the  son  of  Beor  they  slew  with  the 
sword.” — Numbers  31:8. 

Was  the  death  of  Balaam  such  an  important  bit  of 
history?  Why  single  him  out  with  the  five  kings  of 
Midian  ?  Who  was  this  heathen  prophet,  and  why  was 
he  so  cruelly  slain?  Are  not  his  prophecies  among 
the  most  marvellous  and  accurate  in  history?  Did  not 
God  Himself  talk  with  this  man  face  to  face?  Did  not 
Balaam  bless  Israel,  God’s  chosep.  people,  with  fearless 
utterance  before  Balak  their  enemy?  Let  us  recall  the 
whole  story : — 

The  children  of  Israel  had  spent  nearly  forty  years 
wandering  in  the  wilderness.  They  had  reached  the 
borders  of  the  Promised  Land.  The  powerful  Amor^ 
ites  alone  stood  before  them  and  the  Jordan.  Per^ 
mission  to  advance  was  refused  by  Sihon,  the  strong, 
progressive  king.  Israel  fought,  and  Sihon  and  his 
hosts  were  slain.  Northward  they  march.  Og,  the 
giant  king  of  Bashan,  also  is  conquered ;  and  victorious 
Israel,  under  the  matchless  Moses,  encamps  in  the 
fertile  valleys  of  Moab,  just  east  of  Jericho.  Balak, 
the  king  of  Moab,  now  fears  for  his  people.  If  Sihon 
and  Og  could  avail  nothing,  military  strength  and 
genius  are  insufficient.  Divine  aid  must  be  sought.  He 


BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL  55 

consults  with  the  wise  men  of  Midian,  an  adjacent 
country  on  the  east. 

Four  hundred  miles  away,  at  Pethor,  over  the  moun¬ 
tains,  on  the  great  river  Euphrates,  lives  a  mighty 
soothsayer  and  magician.  His  fame  is  universal. 
Rumor  has  it  that  even  the  Egyptian  king  once  sent  to 
consult  him.  The  people  whom  he  blesses  are  blessed, 
those  whom  he  curses  are  cursed. 

The  elders  from  Balak,  laden  with  the  “rewards  of 
divination,”  appear  at  the  home  of  the  prophet.  Their 
message  is  simple.  “A  great  people  has  journeyed  to 
our  land  from  Egypt.  They  are  mighty  warriors ;  the 
•natives  of  the  desert  have  been  overcome;  the  powerful 
Amorites  'have  been  annihilated.  They  eat  up  our  land 
‘as  the  ox  licketh  up  the  grass  of  the  field/  Balaam, 
thou  gifted  one  of  the  most  high  God,  behold  these 
countless  gifts  from  Balak  our  king.  ‘Come  now, 
therefore,  we  pray  thee,  and  curse  this  people,  for  they 
are  too  mighty  for  us :  that  we  may  smite  them  and 
drive  them  out  of  the  land/  ” 

The  prophet  consults  God,  as  the  elders  lodge  with 
him.  He  refuses  to  go  for  God  says :  “‘Thou  shalt 
not  go  with  them ;  thou  shalt  not  curse  the  people :  for 
they  are  blessed.” 

Returning  from  their  king  a  second  time  wdth  princes 
more  honourable  and  rewards  even  greater,  again  they 
plead  with  him  to  accompany  them.  King  Balak  “will 
promote  thee  unto  every  great  honour,”  and  “will  do 
whatsoever  thou  sayest  unto  him.”  Again  they  tarry 
as  Balaam  consults  God.  Consent  is  given  to  his  wish. 
He  goes  with  them.  “God’s  anger”  is  “kindled.”  The 
“angel  of  the  Lord”  blocks  the  way.  His  faithful  beast 


56  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

reproves  him  for  his  cruel  madness.  His  eyes  are 
opened.  The  sword  of  an  injured  God  flashes  before 
him,  and  the  Divine  voice  speaks,  “Thy  way  is  perverse 
before  me.” 

The  prophet  is  met  by  Balak  on  the  very  border 
of  his  kingdom,  and  oxen  and  sheep  are  offered  in 
sacrifices.  The  following  day  they  climb  the  heights 
of  Baal  and  look  off  upon  Israel.  At  Balaam’s  com¬ 
mand,  seven  altars  are  built,  and  seven  oxen  and  rams 
slain.  As  Balak  stands  by  the  offering,  Balaam  sees 
God.  He  returns,  and,  instead  of  cursing,  blesses. 
“How  shall  I  curse  whom  God  hath  not  cursed?  .  .  . 
Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last 
end  be  like  his.”  Bewildered,  Balak  leads  him  to 
Mount  Pisgah;  again  the  altars  and  sacrifices,  and 
Balaam’s  meeting  with  God  alone.  A  second  time  he 
stands  among  the  princes  of  Moab,  and  says :  “Behold 
I  have  received  commandment  to  bless :  and  he  hath 
blessed,  and  I  cannot  reverse  it.  God  brought  them 
out  of  Egypt.  .  .  .  They  have  the  strength  of  the  wild 
bull.  .  .  .  They  shall  rise  up  as  a  great  lion  .  .  .  and 
drink  the  blood  of  the  slain.” 

Irritated,  the  persistent  king  leads  the  prophet  to  a 
third  eminence,  the  top  of  lofty  Peor.  Yet  again,  the 
sacrifices,  and  again  Balaam,  looking  off  over  the 
myriad  tents  of  Israel,  speaks  as  the  Spirit  of  God 
comes  upon  him :  “How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  O 
Jacob,  and  thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel!”  (Do  you  see 
the  face  of  Balak  as  it  darkens  and  wrinkles  under  the 
prophet’s  words?)  “He  shall  eat  up  the  nations  his 
enemies,  and  shall  break  their  bones,  and  pierce  them 
through  with  his  arrows.  .  .  .  Blessed  is  he  that  bless- 


BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL 


57 


eth  thee,  and  cursed  is  he  that  curseth  thee !”  Angered 
now,  Balak  turns  upon  the  prophet,  and,  withholding 
the  promotion  to  honour,  bids  him  flee.  Ere  he  leaves, 
Balaam  recalls  to  the  mind  of  Balak  the  words  he  had 
primarily  spoken,  declaring  that  he  could  not  go  beyond 
the  words  of  God,  even  if  Balak  should  give  him  “his 
house  full  of  silver  and  gold/’  Then  he  adds  that  far- 
reaching  and  remarkable  prophecy  of  western  advance, 
culminating  in  the  “Star  out  of  Jacob.” 

But  Balaam  did  not  go  back  to  the  banks  of  the 
Euphrates.  Sojourning  in  Midian,  he  accomplished 
through  the  subtlety  of  idolatry  and  sin  the  curse  which 
he  dared  not  pronounce  with  his  lips.  He  taught  the 
daughters  of  Midian  to  entice  the  sons  of  Israel  in  the 
false  and  immoral  worship  of  Baal-Peor. 

The  curse  fell.  The  tents  of  Jacob  on  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan  became  infested  with  all  the  horrors  of  the 
plague.  Twenty-four  thousand  died.  The  swift  and 
awful  javelin  of  chaste  Phinehas  appeased  God,  and 
stayed  the  curse;  but  God’s  just  vengeance  followed  the 
Midianites.  A  thousand  chosen  men  from  every  tribe, 
with  Phinehas  the  warrior-priest,  were  sent  forth,  and 
slew  the  idolaters.  Five  kings  of  Midian  fell,  and 
“Balaam  also,  the  son  of  Beor,  they  slew  with  the 
sword,”  for  as  Moses  tells  us  later,  “these  caused  the 
children  of  Israel,  through  the  counsel  of  Balaam,  to 
commit  trespass  against  the  Lord.” 

Balaam  was  a  strange  mixture  of  good  and  evil. 
His  life  is  a  study  worth  our  while.  One  moment  we 
are  won  by  his  apparent  reverence  and  fidelity,  and  the 
next  we  are  repelled  by  his  detestable  subtlety  and 
avarice. 


58  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Human  life  is  duplex  in  its  nature,  but  every  man 
has  a  controlling  character.  He  is  either  self-willed, 
or  self  is  lovingly  lost  in  the  will  of  another.  Man 
is  either  selfish  or  unselfish.  Life  is  either  right  or 
wrong.  The  history  of  Balaam  is  sufficient  to  place 
him  without  a  doubt  beside  Cain,  Haman,  Simon  the 
sorcerer,  and  Judas.  He  was  a  bad  man  as  far  as 
we  have  a  right  to  judge.  Why,  then,  study  his  char¬ 
acter?  Why  not  sigh  and  turn  the  page?  Why?  Be¬ 
cause  this  Balaam  is  a  great  type  of  what  is  too  often 
called  Christian  life. 

First :  He  was  controlled  by  avarice,  ‘“he  loved  the 
wages  of  unrighteousness.”  The  rewards  of  divina¬ 
tion  in  the  hands  of  these  elders  of  Midian,  fanned  the 
flame  that  consumed  his  life.  He  was  a  professional 
religionist,  blessing  and  cursing  for  money.  He  made 
holy  things  a  commodity  of  trade.  He  sold  the  things 
of  God.  He  cared  more  for  the  “rewards  of  divina¬ 
tion”  than  for  Divinity. 

The  journeying  elders  were  of  little  consequence  to 
him ;  Moab  and  Midian  were  at  best  but  defeated  tribes, 
driven  back  previously  by  Sihon  the  slain  Amorite. 
But  the  messengers  had  rewards.  “The  love  of 
money”  was  his  “root  of  all  evil.”  Before  they  spoke, 
the  intelligent  and  gifted  prophet  must  have  anticipated 
their  errand.  Had  not  the  victories  of  these  former 
Goshenites  reached  his  ears?  Rumour  must  certainly 
have  informed  him  of  their  power.  If  even  the  power¬ 
ful  Amorites  could  not  conquer  them;  if  Sihon  and 
Og  had  failed,  why  should  Balak  or  the  Midianites 
hope  to  arrest  their  course?  Did  he  not  know  that  the 
God  of  Israel,  who  walled  up  the  Red  Sea,  and  swal- 


BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL 


59 


lowed  Pharaoh’s  mighty  host,  was  the  Almighty  and 
the  Eternal  One?  As  they  deliver  their  message,  why 
does  he  hesitate?  “Curse  Israel?’’  Curse  the  children 
of  the  Almighty?  His  own  firm  manner  should  have 
silenced  and  chagrined  them.  No  obligation  to  the 
western  tribes  bound  him.  He  had  nothing  to  gain 
from  their  favour.  His  fearless,  frank  testimony  as 
to  Israel  would  have  established  the  hopelessness  of 
their  request.  .  .  .  But  the  prophet  of  the  Euphrates 
is  two-faced.  With  one  face  he  looks  at  God,  with 
the  other  he  sees  gold.  He  will  “talk  with  God,”  and 
explain  matters  to  God.  Perhaps  God  will  let  him 
go.  What  folly!  Here  we  see  the  grasping  coward 
pretend  to  consecrate  sinful  desire  under  the  name  of 
religion,  and  having  dallied  with  temptation,  seek  to 
excuse  himself.  Should  he  not  be  hospitable  to  these 
guests?  Ought  he  not  to  consider  this  invitation 
thoughtfully?  Having  yielded,  subtle  reason  tempts 
him  further.  Perhaps  a  deceiver  has  scattered  these 
rumours  as  to  Israel;  exaggeration  may  have  enlarged 
the  truth.  All  this  with  one  face  toward  God,  while 
that  other  inner  face  watched  the  “rewards  of  divina¬ 
tion.”  If  temptation  once  gains  a  foothold,  imme¬ 
diately  it  works  to  establish  itself.  So  now  he  reasons 
still  further  with  himself :  “Why  should  I  not  receive 
these  rewards  if  I  can  possibly  arrange  to  get  them 
without  openly  opposing  God's  will?  Balak  will  see 
that  my  desire  is  to  please  him,  even  if  I  am  limited.” 

Now  avarice  is  doing  its  most  deadly  work.  It  is 
transforming  the  will,  the  desire.  The  power  of 
prophecy,  of  divination,  has  become  simply  a  means  to 
an  end,  that  end  being  the  gain  which  the  man  himself 


60  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

craves.  Balaam's  desire  was  not  to  do  God’s  will,  but 
to  appear  to  do  God’s  will  that  he  might  get  the  world’s 
reward  and  favour.  As  he  journeys,  God’s  rebuke 
from  his  faithful  beast,  so  cruelly  treated,  does  not  turn 
him  back.  The  love  of  gold  is  an  ever-increasing  love 
which  transforms  freedom  into  slavery.  It  chains  the 
soul,  and  saddest  of  all,  it  deafens  the  ears  and  blinds 
the  eyes,  so  that  its  victim  neither  sees  the  links  nor 
hears  the  clanking  of  the  chains  that  bind  him.  God 
seemed  to  free  Balaam.  He  would  not  let  him  curse 
Israel;  He  shielded  him.  But,  alas,  the  man  was  de¬ 
ceived.  The  tempter  controlled :  and,  although  he 
would  not  defy  God  openly,  although  he  even  gloried 
outwardly  in  His  blessing,  he  gained  his  secret  craving 
for  worldly  reward  through  cunning  deception  and 
sinful  intrigue. 

As  prophet  and  king  looked  down  from  those  moun¬ 
tain  peaks  of  Moab, 

“In  outline  dim  and  vast, 

Their  fearfuf  shadows  cast 

The  giant  forms  of  empires  on  their  way 

To  ruin :  one  by  one 

They  tow’r  and  they  are  gone. 

Yet  in  the  prophet’s  soul  the  dreams  of  avarice 
stay.” 

Second:  Balaam  trifled  with  truth.  Appearing  and 
professing  to  reverence  holy  things,  he  simply  used 
them  for  his  own  ends.  To  do  this,  he  assumed  to  be 
genuine.  He  was  not  sincere;  he  used  truth  to  falsify 
his  position ;  he  was  the  “wolf  in  sheep’s  clothing,”  the 
prophet’s  garb  covering  a  life  of  sinful  desire.  His 
holy  utterances  were  mechanical  and  professional.  His 
face  bore  the  seraphic  smile  of  light;  his  heart  dwelt 


BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL 


61 


in  darkness.  Truth  fled  from  him  as  he  yielded  to 
the  tempter,  and  he  was  forced  to  draw  over  his  guilt 
a  false  covering.  Having  substituted  the  form  for 
the  reality,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  take  in  vain  God’s 
name  and  message.  His  soul  had  ceased  to  struggle 
with  temptation,  and  even  prayer  and  conversation  with 
God  was  simply  an  effort  to  persuade  God  to  his  will. 

We  read  in  Deuteronomy  and  Joshua  that  “God 
would  not  hearken  unto  Balaam/’  He  had  trifled  with 
truth,  and  now  he  was  trifling  with  the  God  of  truth. 
The  truth-trifler  soon  learns  to  care  more  for  the 
approval  of  man  than  for  the  peace  of  God.  Not  what 
God  saw,  but  what  man  witnessed,  was  of  interest  to 
him.  Truth  he  would  speak,  even  accurately  and 
fearlessly,  but  his  prophetic  office  and  power  demanded 
this,  and  protected  him  from  bodily  harm.  This  veri¬ 
fied  the  genuineness  of  his  character  outwardly,  and 
seemed  to  his  clouded  vision  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
his  God  for  the  falsity  of  his  motive.  In  another  way 
he  would  silently  and  cunningly  accomplish  his  end,  the 
wink  of  understanding  with  Balak  would  insure  the 
reward.  Truth  enthroned  in  his  presence  was  really 
“on  the  scaffold,”  and,  if  the  “Great  Avenger”  seemed 
careless,  our  text  shows  that  He  stood  “within  the 
shadow,”  for  “they  slew  Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  with 
the  sword.”  Why  did  he  build  those  altars?  Why  did 
he  sacrifice  the  oxen  and  sheep  ?  Why  did  he  depart  to 
talk  with  the  Almighty?  Did  he  not  know  God’s  will? 
Was  it  not  that  he  was  seeking  to  compromise  with 
God,  that  through  his  outward  devotion  to  the  formal 
he  might  gain  his  point?  As  the  smoke  rose  from  his 
altars  of  sacrifice,  would  not  God  accept  it  as  an  odour 


62  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

of  a  sweet  smell,  and  thus  translate  truth  to  please  the 
prophet  ? 

Micah  answers  (referring  to  Balaam)  :  “Wherewith 
shall  I  come  before  the  Lord?  and  bow  myself  before 
the  high  God?  Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt 
offerings?  .  .  .  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thou¬ 
sands  of  rams?  .  .  .  Shall  I  give  my  first-born  for  my 
transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my 
soul?  .  .  Shall  I  under  the  false  light  of  a  formal 
sacrifice  think  to  transform  wrong  into  right;  to  change 
error  into  truth?  No,  thou  trifler.  Thy  sacrifices  shall 
not  avail;  thy  life  is  false.  Thy  religion  suggests  a 
whited  sepulchre.  Thou  canst  not,  as  says  Stanley, 
“over-power  the  voice  of  conscience  with  the  forms  of 
sacrifice. ”  .  .  .  “He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man,  what 
is  good;  and  what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but 
to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  thy  God.” 

Third:  Balaam  substituted  knowledge  for  love.  He 
knew  God,  but  he  did  not  love  God.  He  talked  with 
God,  but  in  that  conversation  the  lips  spoke,  and  the 
ears  heard,  but  the  heart  was  silent.  He  met  God  with 
eye  and  mind,  but  the  heart  did  not  respond.  He  did 
not  really  see  God  for  he  was  not  “pure  in  heart.” 

Balaam’s  knowledge  was  his  power.  His  fame  was 
the  child  of  his  wisdom.  The  mystical  on  his  lips  was 
the  offspring  of  his  larger  vision.  His  shrewd  insight 
and  farsightedness  resulted  from  rare  personal  gifts 
and  a  trained  and  thoughtful  mind.  Able  scholarship 
added  to  his  influence,  while  his  religious  professions 
commanded  reverence. 

To  know  has  always  seemed  to  be  religion  to  the 


BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL 


68 


ignorant  and  superstitious,  but  knowledge  without  love 
lives  but  to  die.  This  man  knew,  but  his  knowledge 
did  not  save  him  when  the  sword  of  the  truth-loving 
Phinehas  swept  Midian.  Knowledge  itself  cannot  save. 
“Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free,”  not  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  God  is  Truth. 
Christ  said,  “I  am  the  Life,  the  Truth  and  the  Way/*1 
“In  Him”  (the  Truth)  “was  the  love  of  God  per¬ 
fected.” 

Cain  knew  God  and  talked  with  Him.  Judas  was 
one  of  those  who  spent  months  of  time  with  Jesus 
Christ.  But  neither  Cain  nor  Judas  loved.  Balaam 
knew  God,  but  Balaam  failed  to  love  God.  He  loved 
not  knowledge;  he  loved  not  divination,  but  he  loved 
their  rewards.  Self-love  ruled  and  walked  hand  in 
hand  with  knowledge.  Thus  unfolds  another  lesson.. 
Knowledge  without  love  enshrines  reason  and  banishes 
faith.  The  unseen  gives  way  before  the  seen.  The 
unknown  then  mothers  unbelief.  No  life  of  faith 
could  have  spoken  those  holy  words  of  prophecy,  and 
still  failed  to  believe  in  the  loving  care  and  fatherhood 
of  God,  as  seen  in  His  care  for  Israel.  Knowledge  had 
reasoned  away  faith,  because  love  was  not  there.  Love 
only  can  bid  knowledge  clasp  hands  with  faith,  for 
“love  believeth  all  things  .  .  .  love  never  faileth,”  but 
“prophecies  shall  fail,  tongues  shall  cease,  knowledge 
shall  vanish  away.”  How  Balaam’s  knowledge  van¬ 
ished  and  was  quickly  forgotten!  Popular  reference 
to-day  scarcely  mentions  him  aside  from  his  faithful 
dumb  beast,  which  was  not  dumb.  His  knowledge  did 
not  save  him  when  Israel  was  avenged  for  Midian’s 


64  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

sin.  Knowledge  void  of  love  has  never  saved  man. 
It  never  can. 

To  know  what  is  right,  is  not  to  do  what  is  right. 
Simply  to  know  God  is  not  enough,  for  this  man  talked 
with  Him  face  to  face.  And  yet,  the  religion  of  knowl¬ 
edge,  with  its  creed  of  rationalism,  is  dangerously  near 
the  civilisation  of  the  day  in  which  we  live.  But,  re¬ 
member  Balaam’s  error,  and  “though  we  speak  with 
the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  .  .  .  though  we  have 
the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries  and 
all  knowledge ,  .  .  .  and  have  not  love  ...  we  are 
nothing” 

Fourth:  Balaam’s  saddest  error  was  that  he  de¬ 
ceived  his  own  soul .  He  tried  to  think  he  was  favoured 
of  God.  He  reasoned  that  God’s  temporary  presence 
insured  His  eternal  presence.  He  had  so  long  trusted 
in  his  forms  of  worship,  that  they  had  become  his  wor¬ 
ship.  He  worshipped  the  image,  and  thought  the  image 
was  God.  He  is  the  father  of  formalism  and  external- 
ism,  for  they  both  grow  from  a  self-deceived  conception 
of  pure  religion. 

It  is  the  sad  picture  of  the  Pharisee,  thanking  God 
that  he  is  “not  as  other  men  are,  or  even  as  this  publi¬ 
can.”  He,  too,  seeks  a  reward,  as  he  makes  long 
prayers  on  the  street  corners,  and  “verily,”  says  Christ, 
“he  has  his  reward.”  The  awful  punishment  of  hypoc¬ 
risy  is  hypocrisy.  The  hypocrite  grows  to  be  self- 
deceived. 

But  was  Balaam  a  hypocrite?  Was  he  not  a  moral 
man?  Did  he  not  live  up  to  a  high  standard  of  ethics? 
.Was  he  not  a  follower  of  God’s  own  voice?  Was  he 
not  strict  in  obedience?  Did  he  not  fearlessly  speak 


BALAAM  AND  GOD’S  WILL 


65 


the  words  of  God,  even  when  that  brought  the  disfavor 
of  the  king?  Was  he  not  gifted,  and  honourable  and 
trustworthy?  Yes,  and  this  is  where  he  was  self- 
deceived.  Outwardly  he  was  God’s;  inwardly  he  be¬ 
longed  absolutely  to  self.  He  convinced  himself  that 
duty  lay  in  the  path  he  chose,  rather  than  in  God’s  path. 
He  led  duty,  duty  did  not  lead  him.  (I  wonder 
how  many  of  us  are  like  him  in  this  single  particu¬ 
lar.)  His  prayer  was  a  seeking  to  convince  God  of 
the  possible  error  of  right,  and  so  gain  Divine  permis¬ 
sion  to  call  wrong  right.  His  desire  was  not  to  do 
God's  will ,  but  to  keep  on  safe  terms  with  Him.  His 
own  will,  although  clothed  in  religion,  and  acting  in 
righteous  deeds,  was  his  uncontrolled  absolute  monarch. 
His  will  ruled  in  life;  that  will  fell  in  death,  but  fell 
in  a  self-deceived  soul. 

“He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear.”  Are  we  self- 
deceived?  “No,”  we  reply,  “I  know  my  Lord.  I 
pray  regularly  and  fervently,  doing  good  as  I  have 
opportunity.  I  live  a  respectable,  merciful,  upright 
life.”  Listen,  Christ  is  speaking — not  threateningly, 
but  in  that  calm  voice  of  authority  and  truth — “Not 
every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  .  .  .  Many  will  say  unto 
me  in  that  day,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy 
name,  and  in  thy  name  cast  out  devils,  and  in  thy  name 
done  many  wonderful  works?  And  then  will  I  pro¬ 
fess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you :  depart  from  me  ye 
that  work  iniquity.”  “Iniquity?  Wherein  have  we 
sinned?  We  are  members  of  Thy  church;  we  have 
been  trained  in  Christian  homes;  we  are  respectable 
citizens  in  a  God-fearing  land.  Wherein  have  we 


66  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

done  iniquity?”  Let  Balaam  reply.  God  slew  him 
because  he  did  his  oven  will  instead  of  God's  will ,  and 
even  in  so  doing,  deceived  his  own  soul,  convincing 
himself  that  he  did  the  will  of  God.  Complete  that 
thought  of  Christ,  already  quoted — “Not  he  that  saith 
unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my 
Father.” 


VI 


UNITING  WITH  THE  CHURCH 

A  PLEA  FOR  REVIVAL 

“Let  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so.” — Psalm  107:2. 

Our  subject  is  Confessing  Christ  or  Membership  in 
His  Church.  Naturally,  we  think  of  those  who  are 
holding  back,  who  are  generally  spoken  of  as  “without 
the  fold.”  We  would  change  this  method  to-day,  and 
realising  what  God  has  done,  present  with  His  power 
the  joy  and  blessing  of  confession,  and  its  relation  to 
a  revival  of  His  Spirit. 

Church  membership  is  not  a  condition  of  salvation, 
but  confessing  Christ  is,  for  the  true  believer  must  con¬ 
fess.  The  Master  Himself  said,  “Whosoever  therefore 
shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  confess 
before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.”  Paul  also  added 
in  his  Roman  letter,  “If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy 
mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thy  heart 
that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be 
saved.  For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  right¬ 
eousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto 
salvation.” 

There  is  a  difference  between  confessing  Christ  and 
uniting  with  the  Church,  but  not  a  distinction  in  the 

every-day  usage  of  the  terms.  Many  believers,  no 

6  7 


68  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

doubt,  are  not  in  the  visible  Church,  just  as  many  in 
the  Church  are  evidently  unbelievers.  We  read  “Judge 
not,”  but  we  also  read  “By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them.”  This  inconsistency  is  the  excuse  of  many  who 
do  not  profess.  If  sincere,  it  is  due  to  a  misunder¬ 
standing  of  the  meaning  and  place  of  the  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per!  As  we  do  not  come  to  the  Table  upon  any  merit 
of  our  own,  neither  have  we  the  right  to  stay  away 
through  the  lack  of  merit  of  others.  “As  oft  as  ye  eat 
this  bread  and  drink  this  cup  ye  do  show  the  Lord’s 
death  till  He  come.”  There  is  nothing  said  as  to  our 
lives  or  the  lives  of  others,  for  the  only  life  we  then 
honor  is  His  life,  and  that  the  life  through  His  death. 
Argument  will  not  lead  men  to  open  confession  of 
Christ.  Force  fails  as  it  inevitably  does  with  matters 
of  the  heart.  Appeal  usually  proves  vain  because  of 
unwillingness. 

The  question  primarily  depends  upon  the  thought  of 
redemption,  “Let  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so.” 
If  you  are  redeemed,  speak  out,  say  so.  A  self-satisfied 
life,  self-justifiable,  complacent,  heeds  not,  nor  have  we 
the  right  to  expect.  The  Master  is  patient,  but  He  does 
not  spend  time  with  the  soul  when  in  that  state.  He  is 
the  Saviour,  the  Great  Physician,  seeking  the  suffer¬ 
ing,  the  needy,  the  lost.  The  unheeding  who  really 
need  Him  most  of  all,  He  loves,  but  He  will  not  force 
an  entrance  into  their  hearts.  “Behold,  I  stand  at  the 
door  and  knock;  if  any  man  hear  and  open  I  will  come 
in.”  But  the  door  must  be  opened  to  the  Saviour.  Sin 
must  be  confessed,  “For  all  have  sinned.”  “There  is 
none  righteous,  no  not  one.”  The  voice  must  be  that 
of  the  suppliant,  “God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner  ” 


UNITING  WITH  THE  CHURCH 


69 


Then  the  reasonable,  loving  Redeemer  replies,  “Though 
your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow.” 
“Fear  not,  I  have  redeemed  thee,  I  have  called  thee  by 
name,  thou  art  mine.”  The  redeemed  one,  our  text 
affirms,  should  speak  out  his  redemption,  “let  the  re¬ 
deemed  of  the  Lord  say  so.”  (Our  thoughts  should 
quicken  all  of  us  who  now  confess  Him  to  awake  out 
of  sleep  and  realise  that  every  day  and  every  moment 
are  times  of  emergency  and  responsibility.  Times  to 
“let  our  lips  and  lives  express  the  Holy  Gospel  we 
profess.”) 

If  then  you  love  Jesus  Christ;  if  you  believe  Him 
to  be  your  Saviour;  if  you  have  quietly  accepted  the 
standard  of  His  life  and  seek  to  live  that  life  in  His 
Divine  strength,  believing  that  He  has  redeemed  you 
on  the  cross,  why  not  say  so f  The  joy,  the  comfort, 
the  blessing  of  this  open,  frank,  inspiring  testimony 
will  interpret  life  anew  to  you,  and  perhaps  through 
you  to  others. 

The  Word  of  God  is  filled  with  illustration  and  expe¬ 
rience  of  the  joy  and  continued  blessing  of  open  and 
willing  confession  of  religious  faith.  History  records 
the  fact  all  along  that  moral  strength,  noble  character, 
and  righteous  leadership  have  been  strong  in  those  of 
avowed  religious  confession  and  belief.  Perhaps  in 
our  desire  to  win  the  world,  we  have  erred  in  urging 
this  step  too  zealously,  instead  of  telling  His  wonderful 
Gospel  and  waiting  for  His  Spirit  to  prompt  the  open 
act  of  confession. 

Confessing  Christ  will  give  you  the  joy  of  freedom 
from  the  power  of  sin.  Your  very  weakness  will  show 
His  power.  You  will  also  cease  viewing  the  sins  of 


70  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

the  Church,  for  your  eyes  will  no  longer  seek  the  sins 
of  others  that  you  may  justify  self  by  comparison. 

The  avowal  of  our  own  sinful  nature  saved  by 
Christ’s  sacrifice  fixes  our  vision  upon  Him  rather 
than  upon  the  inconsistencies  of  others.  Then  it  is  that 
we  put  ourselves  in  the  attitude  to  others  to  see  many 
of  the  good  qualities  we  otherwise  would  overlook. 
Consciousness  of  neglected  duty  subtly  makes  us  detec¬ 
tives,  ever  on  the  spy  for  the  failings  of  others.  See 
before  you  every  -day  a  Redeemer,  pure,  ideal,  and 
then  in  God’s  open  fields  among  the  flowers  of  sun¬ 
light  and  the  ferns  of  shade,  you  will  not  look  for 
briers  and  thistles.  Openly  His,  you  will  become  an 
appreciator  of  good  instead  of  a  critic  of  error. 

The  great  good  things  of  His  Church  will  begin 
to  appeal  to  you.  History  will  point  out  the  godly 
patriarchs,  and  the  holy  fathers  following  on  after 
the  chosen  twelve  whom  He  so  loved.  The  martyr’s 
cross  and  stake  will  be  o’er  topped  with  a  halo  instead 
of  underlit  with  the  wicked  torch.  The  Bible  will 
become  your  daily  food,  the  much-sought  food  of  the 
soul,  instead  of  a  book  from  which  to  search  out  all 
possible  human  difficulty.  The  service  of  God’s  house 
will  be  reverential  and  worshipful  because  the  heart  is 
right  with  Him.  It  will  no  longer  be  a  place  which 
you  attend,  but  a  joyful  devotion  of  which  you  are 
a  part.  The  hymns  will  be  the  expression  of  your  heart 
in  devout  praise;  the  scripture  lesson  nourishment  for 
your  inner  life,  that  which  the  quiet  hours  of  the  Sab¬ 
bath  will  afford  time  to  meditate  and  assimilate.  The 
prayer  will  be  the  voice  of  the  human  soul  lifted  to  God 
in  heartfelt  adoration  and  praise,  and  the  petition  will 


UNITING  WITH  THE  CHURCH 


71 


have  a  living  faith  that  gives  assurance.  Why  this 
change?  Have  you  not  habitually  attended  Church? 
Yes,  but  now  you  do  not  attend,  you  constitute  the 
Church.  The  Church  is  not  the  building,  but  the  peo¬ 
ple.  You  are  no  longer  within  the  Church.  You  are 
the  Church,  and  Jesus  Christ  is  yours.  Can  you  con¬ 
ceive  of  a  bride  happy  and  content  who  is  ashamed 
to  be  known  as  the  wife  of  her  husband?  Will  a  bride, 
even  if  she  is  not  ashamed  of  that  bridegroom,  separate 
herself  from  him  in  the  presence  of  others  habitually? 
The  Church  is  the  Bride  of  Christ. 

The  Joy  of  Opportunity  will  also  be  yours.  Every¬ 
where  you  will  be  pointed  out  as  a  Christian.  You  will 
be  expected  to  do  other  than  the  worlding,  and  your 
conduct  will  command  respect  and  appreciation  even  if 
temporarily  there  may  sometimes  be  embarrassment. 
In  times  of  characterless  wavering  you  will  be  strong, 
and  your  courage  will  be  the  stay  of  many  a  weaker 
life.  When  others  fall,  you  will  be  expected  to  take 
their  part  to  lead  them  to  sure  ground.  When  the 
world  is  cross  and  scolds,  and  calls  sorrow  hard-luck, 
and  accident  cruelty,  your  face  will  bear  a  smile  of 
confidence  and  peace,  and  your  conversation  will  have 
no  bitter  word  nor  hasty  judgment.  As  a  living  letter, 
read  and  known  of  all  men,  you  will  call  forth  answers 
which  will  lead  to  correspondence  without  limit. 

What  wonderful  opportunity  to  plead  personally  and 
testify  for  the  Master!  What  an  opportunity  will  also 
be  yours  in  God’s  house  with  eye  ever  open,  and  ear 
ever  alert  for  those  who  need  Christ  and  have  not  found 
Him.  Interested  and  aroused  there,  you,  as  a  member 
of  the  Church,  as  one  of  Christ’s  ambassadors,  can  seek 


72  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

out  that  one  and  point  Him  to  the  Saviour,  and  direct 
him  to  the  minister  through  your  personal  introduction. 
The  opportunity  afforded  in  the  life  of  every  day  is 
largely  increased  by  the  public  confession  of  Christ. 
You  are  not  only  known  as  a  business  man,  a  profes¬ 
sional  man,  but  as  a  Christian  business  or  professional 
man.  The  two  do  not  become  identical  in  the  natural 
classification  of  men.  If  you  live  consistently  you  will 
be  the  center  of  interest  among  men  who  do  not  love 
Christ,  as  one  who  loves  and  honours  Him,  and  your 
influence  will  be  larger  than  you  yourself  will  realise. 
The  opportunity  of  association  with  Christian  institu¬ 
tions  will  increase,  each  multiplying  usefulness,  none 
more  influential  than  those  directly  connected  with  the 
Church  appointments.  The  Christian  business  man  in 
the  prayer  meeting,  or  in  the  Sunday  School  can  do 
an  immense  amount  for  the  development  of  the  youth 
of  the  Church. 

With  this  joy  of  opportunity  will  be  the  joy  of 
responsibility ,  and  who  is  the  man  who  will  not  glory 
in  increased  responsibility.  The  responsibility  will  be 
felt  more  in  the  home  than  anywhere  else,  and  here 
it  should  be  felt.  The  father  or  mother  who  is  an 
open  confessor  of  Christ  at  home  is  seldom  outside  the 
membership  of  the  Church,  nor  should  he  .be.  “Go 
home  to  thy  friends  and  tell  them  how  great  things 
Christ  hath  done  for  thee,”  was  His  command.  An¬ 
drew,  after  hearing  Jesus  speak,  first  found  his  own 
brother  Simon  and  confessed  “We  have  found  the 
Messias.”  Peter  the  Rock !  Peter  the  mighty  preacher 
was  the  result. 

How  slight  seems  the  daily  opportunity  of  honoring 


UNITING  WITH  THE  CHURCH 


73 


Christ  in  the  home,  but  this  may  mean  the  conversion 
and  marvellous  power  of  one  in  that  home.  Thought¬ 
lessly  a  father  says,  “My  children  do  not  stop  to  think 
whether  I  am  a  member  of  the  Church  or  not.”  We 
>vill  wave  the  argument,  but  we  reply  the  inspirational 
word,  “What  an  opportunity  you  have  and  what  a 
grand  responsibility  of  compelling  the  admiration  of 
those  very  children  by  a  life  of  consistent,  joyful, 
Christian  fidelity.”  In  a  few  short  years  they  will  no 
longer  be  little  children,  and  as  they  begin  to  find  their 
duties,  their  pleasures,  their  companions  outside  of  the 
home,  your  moulding  influence  will  then  be  gone. 

This  joy  of  responsibility  is  also  the  teacher’s  privi¬ 
lege,  Many  of  our  greatest  and  best  men  have  testified 
that  the  character  and  training  of  a  Christian  teacher 
gave  them  life’s  real  meaning  and  religious  purpose. 
There  is  not  a  vocation  or  service  in  the  world  in  which 
the  joy  of  responsibility  may  not  be  felt  if  the  redeemed 
of  the  Lord  would  only  say  so. 

The  blessing  of  such  utterance  for  Him  can  never 
be  known  on  earth.  Jesus  Christ  confessed  publicly 
may  call  forth  the  criticism  and  cynicism  of  a  few, 
but  these  expressions  count  for  little  and  are  soon  for¬ 
gotten.  Generally  they  bespeak  the  self-excusing  life, 
or  the  life  of  worldly  or  social  aspiration.  The  deep 
heart  of  man  rejoices  in  the  courage  and  conviction  of 
the  believer.  An  infidel  sat  in  the  rear  of  a  great 
church  as  a  large  body  of  men  and  women  were  taken 
into  the  church,  many  of  them  being  baptised.  Not  a 
word  he  uttered,  but  after  the  solemnity  of  the  service, 
as  the  throng  passed  out  into  the  street,  he  said  sadly 


74  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

to  a  friend :  “Would  to  God  I  had  been  there,  for  such 
scenes  make  me  think  there  is  a  God.” 

The  ever  present  blessing  of  a  clear  conscience 
accompanies  such  confession.  We  fall,  we  sin,  we 
err,  but  we  are  redeemed,  and  that  means  forgiven, 
and  we  are  His,  not  our  own.  “We  are  bought  with 
a  price.”  That  price  is  paid.  “Who  in  His  own  self 
bare  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree.”  We  are 
“dead  to  sin  that  we  may  live  unto  righteousness.” 

Will  you  not  deliberately,  calmly,  and  seriously  ask 
yourself  these  questions:  “Why  have  I  not  united 
with  the  Church  of  Christ?”  “Why  have  I  not  openly 
confessed  Jesus  Christ  as  my  Saviour?”  Will  you  not 
pray  that  God’s  Holy  Spirit  may  to-day  make  you  will¬ 
ing  to  do  this  thing? 

But  stronger  still  is  the  argument  of  present  fact. 
We  have  been  hearing  that  there  could  never  again 
be  a  great  revival  -of  religion.  We  have  heard  that 
the  Church  had  become  too  intellectual  for  that;  that 
emotionalism’s  day  has  passed;  that  God  would  come 
in  some  other  way.  As  proof  we  have  cited  the  splen¬ 
did  equipment  and  efforts  which  have  of  late  appar¬ 
ently  failed,  time  and  again,  in  so-called  revival  cam¬ 
paigns.  We  have  all  of  us  denounced  many  hackneyed 
methods  of  forcing  decision  upon  men.  Our  tastes 
have  controlled  our  estimate  of  others,  as  well  as  God’s, 
ways  and  means.  But  how  was  it  on  the  day  of  Pente¬ 
cost?  What  did  men  say  about  the  disciples  then? 
Did  the  disciples  heed  those  words?  What  became 
of  the  cynics?  What  did  that  revival  mean  to  Chris¬ 
tianity?  What  has  grown  out  of  it?  Are  we  realising 


UNITING  WITH  THE  CHURCH  75 

just  now  that  when  God  works  He  works  His  way,  not 
ours  ? 

Is  there  not  a  need,  an  astounding  need,  of  a  genuine 
revival  of  religion?  Do  you  not  feel  it?  I  do.  The 
Church  of  God  does.  The  world  does. 

Years  ago  when  a  great  revival  swept  through 
Wales,  it  was  said:  “The  present  Welsh  revival  seems 
to  be  the  outcome  of  the  mighty  workings  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  It  has  some  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
first  Pentecost.  There  is  a  strength,  a  buoyancy,  a 
sanity  about  it  that  indicates  a  divine  origin.  It  moves 
forward  with  but  little  machinery.  It  is  independent 
of  committees.  The  people  themselves  become  evange¬ 
listic  workers.  It  is  a  modern  comment  upon  Paul’s 
words :  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in 
power/  ” 

Again,  an  editorial  commented :  “The  direct  effects 
attributed  to  this  marvellous  movement,  as  the  reports 
come  in  from  all  the  district  which  has  taken  fire,  indi¬ 
cate  a  stupendous  total  of  moral  effect.  Every  com¬ 
munity  in  South  Wales  has  felt  the  uplift,  and  all 
grades  of  society  have  been  helped.  The  miners  are 
almost  transformed  as  a  class.  It  is  counted  the  most 
amazing  effect  of  the  work  that  swearing  is  no  longer 
heard  in  the  mines.  Prayer  meetings  are  held  at  the 
bottom  of  the  shafts.  Similar  changes  are  seen  in  the 
tin  mills.  The  saloons  are  almost  deserted;  theatres 
have  lost  patronage  amazingly.  The  football  season 
has  been  an  utter  failure;  people  went  to  the  meetings 
instead  of  to  the  games.  Among  educated  Welshmen 
agnostic  ethical  societies  had  of  recent  years  come  into 
great  vogue ;  now  they  are  generally  disbanding.  Sec- 


76  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

tarianism  has  been  rife  in  Wales,  but  now  mutual 
suspicions  are  superseded  by  the  most  absolute  spiritual 
unity.  The  rectors  of  the  Church  of  England  are 
among  the  most  enthusiastic  promoters  of  the  revival 
meetings.  ” 

When  Mr.  Moody  lived  in  our  city  years  ago,  and 
God’s  fire  of  revival  so  frequently  swept  sin  away, 
some  even  of  our  leading  preachers  Said,  “It  will 
amount  to  nothing.’’  They  would  not  see.  Do  not  let 
formal  habit  or  indifference  blind  you.  Believe  !  Pray ! 

Christians,  will  you  consider  Jesus  Christ  your  Mas¬ 
ter  as  the  Master  and  Pre-eminent  Leader  of  your 
whole  life  from  this  hour?  Will  you  pray  to-day  with¬ 
out  holding  back  any  worldly  desire,  and  will  you  con¬ 
fess  Him?  If  so,  God  will  fulfill  His  promises.  (May 
I  ask  every  head  to  be  bowed,  and  each  heart  to  weigh 
these  words  as  I  read  them)  : 

,(Ye  have  not  because  ye  ask  not.” 

“For  this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  our 
Saviour,  who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  to  come  unto 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth.” 

“And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  I  will 
pour  out  of  My  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.” 

“And  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  My  name  that  will  I  do, 
that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.” 

“Wilt  Thou  not  revive  us  again,  that  Thy  people  may 
rejoice  in  Thee?” 

“Revive  Thy  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years — in  wrath 
remember  mercy.” 

“Let  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so.” 


VII 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  GOD 

“How  precious  are  Thy  thoughts  unto  me,  O  God ; 
how  great  is  the  sum  of  them.  If  I  should  count 
them,  they  are  more  in  number  than  the  sand;  when 
I  awake  I  am  still  with  Thee.” — -Psalm  139:17;  18. 

A  man’s  thoughts  govern  him.  Wise  then  is  he  who 
controls  his  thought.  Well  may  we  join  in  the  prayer 
of  David  as  he  closes  this  psalm,  “Search  me,  O  God, 
and  know  my  heart,  try  me  and  know  my  thoughts.” 

“As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  he.”  The 
thoughts  show  the  real  self.  One  of  our  English  essay¬ 
ists  has  well  said :  “Observe  what  direction  your 
thoughts  and  feelings  most  readily  take  when  you  are 
alone,  and  you  will  then  form  a  tolerably  correct  opin¬ 
ion  of  your  real  self.” 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the  great  majority  of 
people  in  our  day  do  little  or  no  thinking  beyond  that 
which  the  momentary  environment  suggests.  Even  our 
educated  men  and  women  are  inclined  to  think  along 
the  line  which  the  business  or  profession  of  each  day 
controls.  Unless  care  is  taken,  our  thinking  becomes 
exceedingly  narrow  and  limited.  No  better  illustration 
of  this  is  found  than  in  the  popular  modern  magazine. 
Here  we  find  that  quick  illustration,  suggestive  and 
realistic,  rather  than  finished  and  artistic,  takes  the 
place  of  that  which  was  once  demanded  in  literary 

77 


78  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

egression  and  correct  style.  Our  newspapers  plainly 
evidence  the  demand  of  the  public  for  quick  utterance 
and  hasty  reading.  Men  are  too  busy  to  do  much 
thinking  aside  from  that  which  they  can  turn  into 
dollars  and  cents.  The  public  seems  to  require  other 
minds  to  think  for  it.  Periodicals  which  condense 
and  select  for  us  are  salable.  Men  want  to  see  at  a 
glance ;  to  read  as  they  run ;  to  understand  without  the 
pressure  of  heavy  thought.  The  movies  are  popular 
because  they  give  us  a  novel  in  an  hour  and  a  half. 

Our  colleges,  although  equipped  as  never  before  with 
professors  and  instructors,  specialists  in  distinctive 
lines,  are  lessening  somewhat  the  tension  and  demand 
in  those  lines  of  study  which  count  for  discipline  and 
mental  training.  The  word  practical  has  grown  to  have 
an  immediate  signification. 

To-day,  as  never  before,  public  utterance  must  not 
call  upon  men  to  think  too  long  or  too  deeply,  even  in 
cities  of  highest  scholastic  name.  Lectures  are  seldom 
popular  which  treat  upon  deep  or  philosophical  subjects. 
There  are  exceptions,  especially  where  the  lecturer  is 
famous,  but  the  large  audience,  we  fear,  is  often  even 
then  a  result  of  the  popular  desire  to  be  considered  phil¬ 
osophical,  and  if  the  lecturer  should  happen,  by  chance, 
to  take  his  eyes  from  his  manuscript,  he  would  undoubt¬ 
edly  be  shocked  to  see  many  a  nodding  head. 

Our  theme  this  morning  is  “The  Thoughts  of  God.” 
They  were  precious  to  David;  they  have  been  precious 
to  countless  men.  We  read  in  the  tenth  Psalm  that 
“God  is  not  in  all  the  thoughts  of  the  wicked.”  These 
words  this  morning,  then,  cannot  appeal  to  the  man 
whose  life  is  sinful  wilfully  and  untrue  selfishly.  The 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  GOD 


79 


wrongdoer  purposely  leaves  God  out  of  his  thoughts. 
Generally  the  wicked  man  does  not  think  much,  anyway. 
As  Neander  wrote : 

His  soul  like  bark  with  rudder  lost, 

On  passion’s  changeful  tide  was  tossed; 

Nor  vice  nor  virtue  had  the  power 
Beyond  the  impression  of  the  hour ; 

And,  oh !  when  passion  rules,  how  rare 
The  hours  which  fall  to  virtue’s  share. 

We  read  in  Genesis  of  those  days  of  ancient  Noah, 
that  “every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  man’s  heart 
was  only  evil  continually,  and  God  repented  that  he  had 
made  man.” 

If,  however,  we  desire  to  seek  God,  He  will  be  found. 
Isaiah  says,  “Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found, 
call  ye  upon  Him  while  He  is  near.  Let  the  wicked 
forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts, 
and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord  and  he  will  have 
mercy  upon  him,  and  to  our  God  for  He  will  abundantly 
pardon.”  He  continues:  “For  my  thoughts  are  not 
your  thoughts,  neither  are  my  ways  your  ways,  saith 
the  Lord.  For  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth, 
so  are  my  ways  higher  than  your  ways,  and  my 
thoughts  than  your  thoughts.” 

If  then  we  are  honest  and  desire  to  fix  our  minds 
upon  God,  His  thoughts  will  become  dear  to  us. 

First :  We  should  consider  that  God,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  Third  Person  of  the  Trinity,  has  a  definite  pre¬ 
scribed  mission  to  perform  in  calling  to  our  remem¬ 
brance  the  things  which  pertain  to  Jesus  Christ.  “The 
Comforter,”  Christ  says,  “shall  teach  you  all  things, 
and  call  to  your  remembrance  whatsoever  I  have  said 
unto  you.” 


80  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Our  memories  are  treacherous;  we  cannot  always 
depend  upon  them,  but  much  of  our  thinking  depends 
upon  that  which  we  remember.  Christian  character  de¬ 
pends  upon  Christian  thinking.  If  God  Himself,  as 
the  Holy  Spirit,  controls  our  memory,  He  must  control 
also  our  thinking.  Thus,  the  Christian  actually  has 
“the  mind  of  Christ.”  The  Comforter  helps  us  remem¬ 
ber  those  things  which  will  comfort  in  times  of  sorrow ; 
also  that  which  will  stimulate  to  greater  activity,  when 
the  human  soul  is  indifferent.  He  suggests  the  tactful 
word  at  the  right  time.  He  uses  our  mind  according 
to  our  best  mental  development,  by  exercising  His  will 
over  us  and  suggesting  our  lines  of  action.  Man  does 

i 

not  act  until  he  wills  to  act.  If  our  wills  are  subject  to 
His  will,  and  our  thoughts  controlled  by  His  thoughts, 
then  we  are  led  by  His  Spirit,  and  the  thoughts  of  God 
make  our  lives  consistent  and  powerful. 

The  temptation  in  the  wilderness  is  an  illustration 
of  this  very  thing.  The  varied  forces  of  the  world 
strove  to  conquer  the  Son  of  Man.  They  were  de¬ 
feated.  The  Victor  knew  God’s  Word,  and  was  filled 
with  God's  Spirit.  Quickly  the  exact  scripture  was 
called  to  memory  which  refuted  the  words  of  the  evil 
one.  Human  passion  was  controlled  by  divine  leader¬ 
ship  and  inspiration.  Finally,  the  Son  of  God  com¬ 
manded  the  evil  one  to  depart,  but  this  after  Christ 
had  clearly  shown  His  entire  submission  to  the  divine 
will.  The  thoughts  of  God  controlled  His  life  and 
action. 

Again,  if  God’s  thoughts  control  us,  our  every 
thought,  as  Paul  tells  us,  “will  be  brought  into  cap¬ 
tivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ” — every  thought 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  GOD 


81 


brought  into  such  obedience.  The  power  of  a  thought¬ 
ful  life  is  recognised,  especially  where  thought  and 
action  coincide  in  a  definite  purpose.  Great  error  is 
the  result  of  occasional  thoughtlessness.  Many  a  good 
man  has  ruined  his  influence  because  of  the  word 
spoken,  or  the  act  committed  in  an  unguarded  moment. 

The  banker  had  been  trusted  for  years.  He  had  the 
confidence  not  only  of  the  whole  city,  but  his  name 
touched  other  cities.  He  was  ruined  because  of  one 
act  which  was  thoughtless.  He  was  not  on  his  guard 
when  others  depended  upon  him.  The  world  could  not 
forgive  him  as  it  would  willingly  have  forgiven  a  child, 
because  that  single  act  disclosed  a  nature  and  character 
in  which  there  was  a  possible  weakness.  Special  temp¬ 
tation,  unexpected  emergency,  must  depend  upon 
thoughtful  and  unerring  character.  If  we  have  learned 
to  bring  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience 
of  Christ,  our  business  life,  our  professional  life,  our 
personal  life,  will  always  be  in  harmony  with  the  will 
of  God. 

Again,  the  Christian  life  calls  for  sacrifice  which 
discriminates ;  the  sacrifice  which  the  best  always  de¬ 
mands.  Life’s  good  things  must  never  rob  us  of  life’s 
better  things ;  life’s  better  things  must  never  rob  us 
of  life’s  best  things.  The  sacrifice  must  be  a  living 
sacrifice,  not  a  giving  up  of  life.  When  Paul  wrote 
to  the  Romans,  he  said:  “I  beseech  you  therefore, 
brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  to  God,  which 
is  your  reasonable  service.  And  be  ye  not  conformed 
to  this  world,  but  be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing 


82  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

of  your  mind,  that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that  good  and 
acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God.” 

What  did  he  mean  by  this?  How  can  a  man  live 
such  a  life?  How  can  he  be  a  living  sacrifice?  Only 
as  his  mind  is  transformed.  Worldly  conformity  will 
rob  him  of  high  thinking.  If  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  his  mind,  his  personal  bodily  life  will 
acquiesce  in  his  mental  desire.  There  may  be  much 
plain  living,  but  there  will  be  also  much  high  thinking. 
“To  be  carnally  minded  is  death,  but  to  be  spiritually 
minded  is  life  and  peace.”  This  by  bringing  every 
thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ  in¬ 
evitably  leads  a  man  into  a  life  of  sacrifice,  which 
creates  within  him  the  highest  standard  of  Christian 
character. 

The  closing  sentence  of  our  text  has  still  an  added 
thought.  David  writes :  “When  I  awake  I  am  still 
with  Thee.”  The  start  a  man  gets  in  the  morning 
makes  his  day.  What  a  wonderful  gift  is  sleep.  We 
retire  overcome  with  fatigue  and  worn  out  with  the 
weariness  of  a  day’s  hard  labour.  When  we  open  our 
eyes  for  a  moment  we  cannot  think  where  we  are  or 
what  the  day  means.  These  first  thoughts  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  mean  much  in  the  moments  and  hours  which  follow. 

Is  God  in  your  thoughts  when  you  awake  ?  Many  a 
man  instinctively  repeats  at  night  the  prayer  which  his 
child-lips  learned  to  utter,  “Now  I  lay  me  down  to 
sleep.”  Does  he  rise  with  a  prayer  to  God  and  the 
thought  of  God  in  his  heart?  Life  is  a  long  road  and 
the  twists  and  turns  we  cannot  designate  by  prophecy. 
Each  step  may  reveal  the  unexpected.  Is  it  not  well 
for  us  to  know  that  “He  knows,”  and  start  each  day 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  GOD 


83 


with  the  living  triumphant  faith  which  is  effective? 
With  David,  may  the  thoughts  of  God  be  with  us  when 
we  awake  each  morning ! 

Lastly,  we  must  consider  that  those  things  which 
are  precious  unto  us  become  increasingly  endeared  to 
us  as  we  grow  older.  If  the  thoughts  of  God,  in  all 
their  majesty,  their  glory,  their  might,  their  purity, 
their  beauty,  grow  into  our  lives,  and  into  our  thinking, 
we  shall  grow  all  unconsciously  like  Him!  “Now  we 
see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face;  now 
I  know  in  part,  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am 
known.” 

We  do  not  know  what  heaven  is,  nor  what  it  may 
have  in  store  for  us,  but  this  we  know,  it  will  be  the 
place  where  He  is,  where  His  thoughts  are  our 
thoughts,  where  His  life  and  personality  and  work  are 
pre-eminent.  He  demands  from  us  the  best  we  can 
give.  He  demands  the  pre-eminent  place  here.  “Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,  and 
all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.”  Heaven  will 
take  care  of  itself,  if  we  do  our  part  here  and  to-day. 
To  think  with  Him,  for  Him  and  by  Him  now  will 
mean  the  omniscience  of  heaven,  when  “we  shall  be  like 
Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.” 

I  plead  this  morning  for  a  patient,  thoughtful  Chris¬ 
tianity  which  shall  result  in  that  ultimate  high  standard 
of  Paul,  who  could  say,  even  with  the  loftiness  of  his 
ambition,  “I  have  learned  in  whatsoever  state  I  am 
therewith  to  be  content.”  It  must  mean  that  every 
thought  is  brought  into  His  captivity  and  we,  by  the 
power  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  will  grow  more  and  more 
like  Him. 


VIII 


THE  JOY  OF  RESTORATION 

“Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault  ye 
which  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit 
of  meekness,  considering  thyself  lest  thou  also  be 
tempted.” — Galatians  6:i. 

Paul  seems  to  have  gained  the  experience  of  Christ’s 
truth.  Christ  had  wonderful  power  in  recognizing  the 
worth  in  people  who  seemed  to  be  worthless.  He  saw 
value  in  what  the  world  regarded  as  valueless.  The 
world  to-day  is  inclined  to  disregard  the  value  of  human 
life  save  as  it  is  demonstrated  by  efficiency.  The  world 
is  inclined  to  disregard  as  valueless  the  life  that  has  not 
attained,  the  one  who  has  lived  a  certain  number  of 
years  without  attaining  what  is  called  success. 

But  Jesus  Christ  had  the  remarkable  gift  of  fore¬ 
seeing  in  many  a  life  those  valuable  assets,  which,  once 
recognized  and  appropriated,  meant  a  great  deal  for 
His  Kingdom.  For  instance,  how  many  men  would 
have  selected  a  man  like  Peter?  If  you  and  I  had  been 
leaders  in  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ,  undoubtedly  we 
would  have  gone  to  Jerusalem  to  find  a  man  trained  to 
the  work.  Jesus  Christ  went  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and 
picked  out  a  rough,  swearing  fisherman  to  do  that  work, 
a  man  strong  in  his  rugged  characteristics,  powerful  in 
his  physical  strength,  and  He  made  him  a  great  apostle. 
You  and  I  would  have  been  totally  out  of  sympathy 

84 


THE  JOY  OF  RESTORATION 


85 


with  Saul  of  Tarsus  and  would  have  kept  just  as  far 
away  from  him  as  we  could.  But  Jesus  Christ  arrested 
him  in  his  course  and  spoke  to  him  firmly  and  with 
sympathy,  commanding  his  loyalty  and  his  life  from 
that  moment.  This  same  man,  Saul  of  Tarsus,  the 
Paul  who  gives  us  our  text,  said:  “Ye  who  are  spirit¬ 
ual,  restore  such  an  one.” 

Go  back  again  to  Christ  and  see  how  He  carried  out 
this  truth  and  how  Paul  gained  His  spirit.  You  re¬ 
member  how  Christ  found  a  woman  leading  a  sinful 
life.  The  religious  leaders  of  that  day  would  have 
condemned  her  immediately  to  death,  but  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  silenced  every  one  by  saying :  “He  that  is 
without  sin  among  you,  let  him  cast  the  first  stone.” 
He  saw  in  a  poor,  wretched,  wronged  character  a 
human  spark  of  penitence  and  love,  and  it  called  forth 
from  His  heart  a  response,  and  an  invitation  to  the 
higher  life.  This  was  totally  unseen  by  those  whose 
religion  was  merely  formal  and  mechanical.  Paul  had 
also  that  spirit:  “If  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye 
which  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness,  considering  thyself  lest  thou  also  be 
tempted.” 

The  word  “spiritual”  has  gained  something  of  a 
sentimental  meaning.  It  is  a  most  abused  word.  Every 
new  sect  talks  about  its  “spiritual”  ethics.  Every 
adroit  heretic  uses  it  freely  and  lays  emphasis  on  his 
spiritual  interpretation  even  if  he  is  teaching  rank 
infidelity.  It  is  a  word  that  is  used  by  so  many  people 
to  misrepresent  instead  of  present  its  real  significance. 

The  genuine  spiritual  life  is  not  a  theory;  it  is  rather 
an  attainment  in  aim  and  purpose.  The  spiritual  life  is 


86  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

represented  in  the  life  that  cries  out  to  God  for  help 
and  strength,  and  lives  in  Him.  As  the  ninety-first 
Psalm  says:  “He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of 
the  Most  High  shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Almighty.” 

This,  then,  is  the  spiritual  life.  Are  we  spiritually 
minded?  To  know,  let  us  answer  these  questions :  Do 
we  find  it  a  natural  inclination  in  our  lives  to  think 
about  God  before  we  close  our  eyes  at  night?  Do  we 
find  it  a  natural  expression  and  inclination  of  our  lives 
to  start  the  day  with  God  before  we  rise  in  the  morning, 
and  before  we  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  day,  or  see 

_  i 

another  face?  There  are  many  who  have  these  desires, 
though  they  will  admit  it  becomes  a  matter  of  habit, 
rather  than  desire.  There  are  many  people  who  want 
to  be  spiritual  and  to  be  like  Christ  who  really  let  that 
want  and  desire  substitute  for  attainment.  It  is  one 
thing  to  have  the  inclination  to  meet  God  face  to  face  in 
the  morning,  and  at  the  close  of  the  day;  but  it  is 
another  thing  to  have  the  experience.  We  form  a  cor¬ 
rect  and  true  opinion  of  our  real  selves  if  we  consider 
the  actual  experience  of  our  own  lives  when  we  are 
alone. 

If  we  have  the  inclination  to  do  these  things  we  are 
spiritual  minded,  and  if  we  have  not  we  may  gain  it  by 
habit.  We  would  not  enjoy  the  day  if  we  did  not 
cleanse  our  faces  in  the  morning — it  is  the  most  natural 
thing  to  do ;  we  would  actually  feel  uncomfortable 
without  it.  But  there  are  very  many  who  are  perfectly 
happy  seemingly  in  neglecting  this  very  thing.  Many 
are  not  situated  so  that  it  is  convenient  for  them  to 
do  so,  but  they  could  make  it  possible  by  an  effort. 


THE  JOY  OF  RESTORATION 


87 


Now,  it  is  not  because  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  be 
spiritual  that  we  are  not,  but  we  have  not  formed  the 
habit  of  letting  it  so  become  a  part  of  our  lives  that  we 
would  never  think  of  going  without  it.  It  is  quite 
impossible,  however,  for  one  to  experience  a  spiritual 
life,  a  Christian  reality  in  life,  and  then  go  back  to  any 
other  life  and  be  happy.  A  spiritual  life  is  a  life  that 
cannot  exist  without  God,  not  simply  a  God  that  is 
everywhere,  the  God  of  the  pantheist,  who  will  tell  you 
God  is  in  yonder  tree,  as  seen  in  bud  and  blossom.  We, 
too,  believe  that  God  is  a  God  of  nature,  but  more  than 
that.  We  have  the  fact  that  God  is  everywhere,  the 
comprehension  of  all  that  life  means  and  is,  but  He  is 
our  Father  and  Friend.  If  we  are  spiritually  minded, 
we  will  not  allow  ourselves  to  live  without  God  and 
without  recognizing  Him. 

But  God  will  not  live  where  sin  is.  The  impure  life 
and  the  spiritual  life  cannot  go  together.  Impurity 
drives  away  the  thought  of  God,  and  it  does  something 
worse  than  that ;  it  distorts  the  human  vision  so  that 
God  cannot  be  recognized.  Have  you  ever  stood  before 
a  concave  or  convex  mirror  which  distorts  your  face 
and  figure  so  that  it  makes  a  caricature  of  your  entire 
body?  That  is  what  sin  does;  it  distorts — not  the 
vision,  but  that  which  represents  the  vision — so  that 
you  are  incapable  of  seeing  the  real  as  it  is.  That  is 
why  a  sinner,  when  he  sees  and  hears  the  truth,  does 
npt  want  to  look  or  listen. 

But  the  spiritual  life  makes  the  vision  of  God  normal 
so  that  distorted  conditions  no  longer  exist.  You  have 
a  pain  in  your  head,  and  cannot  tell  why;  you  have 
thought  perhaps  your  physical  system  was  weak,  and 


88  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

that  pain  is  caused  by  blood  centring  in  the  back  of 
your  brain.  Then  the  pain  suddenly  shifts  and  you 
suffer  in  the  side  of  your  head;  or,  at  times  you  feel 
dizzy  and  your  vision  becomes  indistinct.  Some  one 
advises  you  to  go  and  see  an  oculist.  You  go,  and 
after  examining  your  eyes  he  tells  you  to  put  on 
glasses.  He  adjusts  them  and  your  headache  stops. 
The  trouble  has  been  with  your  eyes.  You  have  been 
forcing  the  muscles  to  do  work  which  was  too  strong 
for  them,  and  you  have  been  trying  to  adjust  your 
sight  with  a  wrong  vision;  but  now  the  glasses  have 
corrected  the  wrong. 

Many  people  are  thus  discussing  their  spiritual  capa¬ 
bility  by  forcing  themselves  to  see  what  God  could 
easily  adjust  if  they  would  let  Him.  If  we  will  just  let 
the  presence  of  God  become  a  reality !  Let  sin  go  out 
and  God  come  in — we  will  have  a  normal  view  of  the 
spiritual  life  and  will  seek  to  do  as  God  planned  and 
arranged. 

Natural  tendency  is  to  criticise  others.  It  is  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world.  I  remember  a  just  rebuke 
I  once  had.  I  was  speaking  of  a  rather  laughable 
experience.  Probably  I  had  told  it  a  dozen  times.  The 
man  of  whom  the  story  was  told  was  a  friend,  and  it 
was  told  simply  as  a  joke;  but  the  friend  to  whom  I 
told  it  replied:  “Why  do  you  tell  that?  It  may  be  a 
good  joke,  but  after  all  it  carries  with  it  the  thought 
that  our  friend  spoiled  a  good  time,  ruined  a  lovely 
occasion  by  his  thoughtlessness.”  He  added :  “We  are 
both  very  fond  of  that  man,  and  his  friends  are  ours, 
but  now  it  will  be  an  effort  to  think  or  speak  of  him 


THE  JOY  OF  RESTORATION  89 

without  recalling  this  incident,  and  I  wish  I  hadn’t 
heard  it.” 

His  frankness  taught  me  a  great  lesson.  What  is 
the  use?  I  have  a  motto  in  my  study:  “Forget  it;  it 
may  not  be  true.”  A  lot  of  things  we  should  forget; 
they  may  not  be  true. 

Even  more  important  is  the  fact  that  spiritually 
minded  men  and  women  aim  to  glorify  their  Lord. 
“God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.”  In  other  words,  the  spiritually 
minded  man  is  looking  for  God’s  glory.  He  will  cut 
out  of  his  own  life  a  great  many  things  which  his  own 
inclination  would  place  there. 

Now,  see  how  this  is  related  to  other  lives.  Human 
nature  is  weak.  The  weakness  of  human  nature  is  not 
confined  to  those  lacking  in  will-power,  although  it  is 
undoubtedly  true  that  the  weak-minded  sin  a  great  deal 
more  than  those  who  have  strong  will-power;  hence, 
they  need  a  great  deal  more  help.  The  Christian  ought 
to  be  ready  early  and  late  to  help  others. 

Call  to  mind  the  poor  man  who  fell  among  thieves. 
A  Scribe  passed  by,  a  Levite  passed  by,  and  then  a 
good  man,  a  Samaritan,  came  along  and  helped  that 
poor  man.  Many  men  have  fallen  among  thieves  of 
dishonesty,  thieves  of  evil  companionship.  Many  a 
man  has  fallen  among  thieves  of  poverty.  A  lad  was 
standing  on  the  street  corner  shivering,  indecision  and 
sadness  in  his  face.  Near  by  a  man  was  standing.  In 
a  sudden  burst  of  conversation  and  natural  good- 
fellowship  he  said :  “My  lad,  are  you  waiting  for  the 
car  ?”  “No,  I  am  not  waiting  for  a  car — I’m  tired  to 
death.  I'm  just  waiting.”  “Well,  you  will  freeze  to 


90 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

death  if  you  stand  there  in  the  cold.  Put  on  a  coat.” 
“I  haven’t  a  coat,”  the  other  said.  “Well,  then,  why 
don’t  you  walk?”  “I  have  walked  until  I’m  tired  out; 
if  I  freeze  to  death,  I  will  freeze  to  death.”  “What  is 
the  matter  with  you  anyway?”  asked  the  man.  “I  don’t 
know,”  replied  the  lad.  “I  haven’t  anything  to  do; 
I  haven’t  anywhere  to  go,  and  I  won’t  beg.  I  may  die 
— death  isn’t  at  all  troublesome  to  me.  I  won’t  take  my 
life  because  God  gave  it  to  me,  and  I  haven’t  any  right 
to  take  it."  That  was  all.  He  would  not  accept  help, 
nor  would  he  ride,  and  so  they  walked  together. 
Finally,  the  man  found  out  the  truth,  that  the  worst 
enemy  the  fellow  had  was  poverty !  That  man  helped 
his  friend  to  work,  and  poverty  fled. 

I  took  down  a  book  from  the  shelf  the  other  day  and 
read  a  few  pages.  The  author  was  trying  to  say  that 
poverty  is  always  the  result  of  sin;  but  it  is  not.  For 
some  reason  or  other  that  lad  had  not  had  what  you 
and  I  call  a  chance.  We  do  not  know  what  was  the 
matter.  Because  just  as  soon  as  that  lad  was  given  a 
chance,  he  succeeded  splendidly,  and  he  is  an  honoured 
man  to-day.  He  just  needed  a  little  help  and  a  little 
human  sympathy.  But,  you  say,  he  was  an  exception, 
one  in  a  hundred.  That  is  like  many  another  remark — 
ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred,  or  nine  out  of  ten;  we 
say  these  things,  and  they  don’t  mean  anything.  I 
know  that  he  was  an  exception,  but  I  know  that  poverty 
had  become  his  fate.  We  do  not  know  enough  of  his 
story  to  know  what  happened  to  place  him  where  he 
was,  but  we  know  this,  that  he  was  a  type.  And  we 
know  that  such  cases  are  on  every  side  of  us.  Poor 
people  do  not  want  to  be  patronised ;  the  man  or  woman 


THE  JOY  OF  RESTORATION 


91 


who  will  be  patronised  is  not  worthy  of  help.  Do  not 
be  patronising.  ‘Til  help  you,”  you  say,  and  the  proud 
man  answers :  “I  do  not  want  your  help ;  I  am  a  man 
myself.”  But  they  do  want  human  sympathy  and  a 
chance.  They  want  confidence  and  love  and  something 
to  do.  Restore  men  to  God  by  restoring  them  to 
themselves. 

You  will  be  fooled  sometimes.  Well,  what  if  you 
are?  The  man  whom  you  tried  to  help  never  forgets 
your  act.  We  must  restore  people.  What  if  a  man 
does  sin  and  fall  ?  Even  then  you  and  I  ought  to  seek 
to  restore  him.  You  say :  “He  has  fallen,  and  it  is  all 
over  with  him.”  All  over?  It  is  a  good  deal  harder 
to  be  patient  with  a  man  than  to  denounce  him  because 
he  has  failed.  You  cannot  win  a  dog’s  affection  by 
kicking  him ;  you  cannot  gain  human  beings  by  scorning 
them  when  they  have  slipped.  What  the  fallen  man 
needs  is  confidence  and  patience.  If  a  man  has  fallen 
among  the  thieves  of  his  own  wretched  habits,  how  do 
you  know  how  hard  he  has  fought  for  years  to  con¬ 
quer  ?  He  may  be  making  ten  times  as  brave  a  fight  to 
stand  on  his  feet  as  you  have  ever  made. 

Some  one  said :  “I  would  be  ashamed  to  be  seen 
walking  with  a  drunkard.”  Well,  I  would  not.  I 
would  rather  walk  with  a  drunkard  than  to  lose  the 
chance  of  restoring  him.  What  you  and  I  need  in  this 
world  is  the  wish  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
restore  men.  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Gospel 
of  restoration. 

Do  you  realise  that  power  of  restoration  may  be 
sifted  down  to  restoration  in  your  own  life?  I  remem¬ 
ber  the  first  time  I  ever  heard  Mr.  Moody.  I  was 


92  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

eleven  years  old.  I  used  to  sing  alto ;  I  loved  to  sing. 
They  asked  me  if  I  would  not  sing  in  the  Moody  choir, 
and  I  sang  until  I  was  ashamed  to  stand  up  alone 
among  so  many  women.  I  remember  what  he  said  in 
substance.  He  said :  “Some  of  you  people  here  have 
not  the  thrill  that  that  boy  has  when  he  sings.”  He 
pointed  to  me,  and  I  wished  I  could  get  out.  He  con¬ 
tinued:  “You  have  not  the  same  thrill  and  joy.”  I 
have  never  forgotten  it.  I  did  not  know  then  but  now 
I  know  exactly  what  he  meant.  I  felt  it  then,  but  it 
was  all  so  natural.  I  have  oftentimes  wanted  to  feel  it 
since  then.  I  remember  one  of  the  old  pieces  we  used 
to  sing: 

Dare  to  be  a  Daniel, 

Dare  to  stand  alone, 

Dare  to  have  a  purpose  firm, 

Dare  to  make  it  known. 

I  remember  another  of  those  songs  that  used  to 
thrill  me.  I  never  heard  a  church  choir  thrill  me  as 
those  songs  did.  The  other  song  ran  like  this : 

Now  just  a  word  for  Jesus, 

’Twill  help  us  on  our  way ; 

One  little  word  for  Jesus, 

Oh,  speak,  or  sing,  or  pray. 

What  a  simple  thing  it  is,  yet  it  thrills  me.  And 
why?  It  is  associated  with  the  songs  of  my  boyhood. 
Now,  you,  too,  have  had  that  thrill  of  religious  faith 
at  times.  It  may  have  been  something  that  seemed  to 
lift  you  right  out  of  yourself  and  forced  you  to  say: 
“I  want  to  be  better.  I  want  to  fight  this  thing  out 
now.”  You  think  you  have  gotten  beyond  it.  Your 
life  has  become  calloused,  but  I  tell  you,  we  need  it, 


THE  JOY  OF  RESTORATION  93 

every  one  of  us  needs  it.  God  is  willing  to  restore  unto 
us  the  joy  of  Himself  if  we  will  let  Him. 

To-morrow  morning  I  go  as  a  pastor  and  friend  to  a 
home  in  this  church  to  stand  by  one,  a  loved  mother, 
who  for  many  years  has  been  all  that  a  mother  could 
be.  She  was  the  widow  of  the  one  who  led  the  singing 
here  for  so  many  years,  and  whose  life  and  song  meant 
so  much  to  this  congregation.  She  has  passed  on  now 
to  be  with  him  and  her  Master.  Why,  do  you  know,  1 
cannot  go  to  that  service  to-morrow  morning  without 
schooling  myself  to  control  my  emotion,  because  it 
takes  me  back  to  my  own  mother  and  my  own  home. 
Some  of  you  have  had  the  same  experience.  It  is  the 
thrill  of  recognition  of  human  love  as  God  lives  in  the 
lives  of  those  whom  we  love,  and  who  have  given  their 
best  selves  to  us. 

Men  and  women,  we  need  it.  He  will  restore  unto 
us  the  joy  of  salvation  if  we  will  let  Him.  Some  of 
you  people  here  to-night  have  not  been  connected  with 
a  church  for  years.  You  have  been  out  of  touch  with 
the  living  activity  of  the  Church  of  God,  and  still  you 
were  dedicated  to  Christ  as  little  children.  You  once 
joined  the  Church  of  God,  but  in  the  restlessness  of  a 
great  city  the  weeks  and  the  years  have  passed  by,  and 
you  have  forgotten  God.  He  will  restore  unto  you  the 
joy  of  His  salvation  if  you  will  let  Him. 

And  the  last  thought  is  this :  In  trying  to  restore 
others  and  in  restoring  yourself  you  will  realise  the 
wonderful  forgiveness  of  God  and  the  sins  of  your  own 
heart. 

You  know  the  fifty-first  Psalm:  “Have  mercy  upon 
me,  O  God,  according  to  thy  loving  kindness ;  accord- 


94  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

ing  unto  the  multitude  of  thy  tender  mercies  blot  out 
my  transgressions.”  And  then  in  the  twelfth  verse 
David  says :  “Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salva¬ 
tion.”  Do  you  know  how  David  happened  to  write 
that  Psalm?  David,  the  King,  had  committed  a  most 
dastardly  deed.  He  had  forgotten  his  God;  overcome 
by  a  wicked  passion  he  had  placed  a  soldier,  the  hus¬ 
band  of  one  of  the  women  of  his  own  nation,  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  battle  in  order  that  he  might  be 
slain,  and  then  he  took  that  man’s  wife  to  be  his  wife. 
It  was  as  if  he  had  murdered  a  man  loyal  to  him,  a 
patriot.  And  yet,  when  he  realised  the  awful  wicked¬ 
ness  of  his  sin,  he  cried  out  to  God  in  anguish  and  in 
penitence  :  “Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  restore  unto 
me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation.” 

Prisoners  condemned  to  death  have  given  their 
hearts  to  God  and  have  died  simple-hearted,  loving 
Christians.  I  care  not  what  your  sin  or  mine  may  be 
or  have  been.  What  we  need  is  the  restoration  of  the 
life  of  the  Master  in  our  hearts  and  lives. 

Men  and  women,  I  plead  with  you  to  repent,  no 
matter  what  the  sin.  Oh,  let  Him  restore  you !  Then 
you  will  be  out  in  the  world  early  and  late,  day  after 
day,  to  seek  to  restore  others  who  need  the  salvation  of 
our  God  through  Jesus  Christ, 


IX 


MY  PRESENCE  SHALL  GO  WITH  THEE 

“If  Thy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  me  not  up 
hence.” — Exodus  33:14-15. 

In  those  early  days  of  long  ago,  history  was  not  read 
as  it  is  to-day.  The  literature  of  life  was  limited  and 
largely  the  composite  of  the  man’s  experience  trans¬ 
mitted  from  mouth  to  ear.  Some  of  the  nations  had 
their  literature,  it  is  true,  as  certain  hieroglyphics  and 
characters  cut  in  ancient  stones,  and  ancient  manu¬ 
scripts  reveal  to  us,  but  those  ancient  indications  reveal 
little  of  the  associations  men  had  with  one  another. 
But  they  were  taught  the  knowledge  of  God,  among 
the  great  leaders  of  Israel,  even  before  Israel  was  a 
nation.  And  especially  this  great  leader,  whom  God  so 
signally  called,  was  one  in  reality  of  faith  and  in  the 
power  of  a  living  word ;  for  he  believed  God.  Whether 
it  was  the  burning  bush,  that  bush  which  is  the  emblem 
of  the  Scottish  and  the  Helvetian  churches,  or  other 
experiences,  it  was  the  evidence  of  the  presence  of  God 
who  spoke  in  every  experience  of  his  life  and  nature. 
Every  forward  step  in  the  history  of  the  Israelites 
manifested  the  presence  of  God. 

The  great  sins  of  nations  have  been  the  sins  which 
have  been  subtle  in  influence.  These  are  the  sins  that 
have  steadily  destroyed.  Remember  when  that  prophet 

95 


96  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

of  old  would  not  curse  the  Israelites,  although  great 
results  and  a  great  reward  were  offered  him,  how  once 
and  again  he  went  before  God,  even  when  God  told  him 
he  should  bless  Israel,  and  although  he  did  not  dare  to 
curse  Israel,  he  did  something  worse !  Balaam  taught 
the  children  of  Israel  to  pretend  to  be  religious  and 
then  give  their  lives  over  to  impurity  and  wrong¬ 
doing.  And  a  curse  fell  upon  that  people  through  the 
influence  of  a  so-called  prophet,  because,  under  the 
pretense  of  religion,  he  allowed  them  to  break  God’s 
laws  in  immoral  practices. 

The  evidence  of  history  has  been  that  the  most  vital 
sins  are  those  that  creep  steadily  into  our  lives  because 
of  wrong  purpose.  Thus  the  subtle  influence  of  sin 
and  ambition  and  wrong  depletes  unconsciously,  and 
injures  and  destroys  that  which  should  upbuild  and 
construct  for  God, — not  because  we  wish  it,  but  because 
we  are  yielding  to  those  things  which  lead  us  from  God. 

Now,  God  did  not  say  that  money  was  the  root  of  all 
evil.  Money  is  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  in  all  the 
world;  but  the  love  of  money,  the  coveting  of  money  is 
where  the  sin  lies.  If  a  man  seeks  money  that  he  may 
use  it  for  the  best  interests  of  his  home,  of  the  com¬ 
munity,  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  God  will  honour  and 
bless  him.  There  are  thousands  of  men  who  are  using 
their  money  for  these  very  purposes.  Many  a  man, 
like  that  good  man  of  old  who  took  his  own  tomb  and 
placed  the  Saviour’s  remains  within  it !  He  could  never 
have  given  that  tomb  if  God  had  not  blessed  him 
temporarily.  Thousands  of  men  are  in  this  world 
whom  God  has  so  blessed,  and  they  are  honouring 
Him. 


MY  PRESENCE  SHALL  GO  WITH  THEE  97 


My  dear  people,  I  say  with  all  my  heart  that  the  very 
opportunities  which  are  ours  from  our  surroundings, 
which  are  so  dear  to  us  in  the  sacred  associations  of 
lile,  and  so  many  of  them  dear  to  us  in  this  old  build¬ 
ing,  we  could  never  have  attained  unless  men  and 
women  of  large  heart  and  abundant  means  had  made 
them  possible.  God  has  given  them  to  us,  not  only  in 
the  erection  of  a  building,  but  this  church  has  had  the 
heritage  for  over  forty  years  in  her  interest  in  the  work 
of  our  city  and  the  world — you  have  been  willing  to 
worship  in  inadequate  surroundings  in  order  to  do 
more  for  the  community  and  the  world. 

The  new  growth  and  development  of  this  work 
would  never  have  been  possible  if  we  had  not  had  the 
same  vision,  the  same  faith,  and  the  willing  assistance 
of  those  whom  God  has  blessed  and  honoured.  But  with 
our  blessings  we  are  warned  of  our  dangers. 

The  subtle  sin  is  when  those  who  are  receiving  His 
blessings  and  the  gifts  of  wealth  are  interested,  increas¬ 
ingly  in  the  things  pertaining  only  to  this  life,  without 
sharing  the  right  proportion  of  their  blessings  with  the 
far-reaching  interests  of  God.  The  future  of  a  church 
is  not  related  to  its  externals,  not  primarily  to  its  build¬ 
ings,  nor  to  its  form  of  worship;  but,  to  the  spiritual 
strength  and  growth  of  its  members.  Men  and  women 
growing  up  within  its  membership  must  be  strong  in 
their  belief  of  His  Son;  they  must  seek  first  the  things 
which  pertain  to  God  and  realise  God’s  presence  amid 
the  actual  realities  in  life. 

It  is  not  strange  that  Moses  was  perplexed,  and  that 
those  related  to  him  wondered  how  God  could  lead 
them.  I  wonder  if  we  can  begin  to  conceive  what  it 


98  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

meant  to  realise  the  responsibility  resting  on  him  be¬ 
cause  of  the  weakness  of  so  many  who  did  not  trust 
him;  the  weakness  of  so  many  who  were  influenced  by 
circumstantial  conditions ! 

The  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  “Depart,  and  go  up 
hence.”  God  believed  in  him,  and  Moses  believed  in 
God !  But  there  was  a  mutual  relationship  that  became 
actual  because  of  God’s  presence  in  his  life.  Then  the 
assurance  was  back  of  it:  “Fear  not,  I  will  go  with 
thee,  I  will  be  with  thee.”  That  man  was  not  merely 
an  individual,  not  merely  a  great  military  genius  !  Read 
Josephus  and  some  of  the  other  historians,  and  you  will 
find  that  this  man,  this  same  Moses,  was  able  to  lead  a 
great  host  of  Egyptians  against  the  Ethiopians.  He 
was  trained  with  splendid  character  and  self-discipline 
and  influence,  but  he  needed  more.  He  was  skilled  in 
scholarship  and  his  attainments  were  the  result  of  long 
and  severe  training.  He  was  beautiful  to  look  upon, 
aside  from  the  strength  of  his  manliness.  Historians 
tell  us  that  workmen  used  to  get  up  early  in  the 
morning  and  walk  two  or  three  miles  out  of  their  way 
that  they  might  get  a  look  at  the  young  Moses,  and  see 
the  beauty  and  strength  in  his  countenance.  But,  with 
all  his  splendid  equipment,  he  could  not  lead  Israel. 
He  was  afraid;  he  needed  God.  “Fear  not,  I  will  go 
with  thee,  I  am  with  thee.” 

When  he  went  up,  with  that  sacred  purpose  and 
heroic  aim,  he  said,  “Lord,  take  me  not  up  hence  unless 
Thou  goest  with  me.”  Then  look  back  and  see  two 
men  fighting  together,  and  one  conquering  the  other. 
Moses  stepped  in  and  used  his  power.  And  then  again 
he  intervened  another  time,  and  one  said  :  “Who  made 


MY  PRESENCE  SHALL  GO  WITH  THEE  99 


thee  governor  over  us?”  His  own  people  disregarded 
him.  Then  God  sent  him  to  the  wilderness.  Then 
see  him  in  that  Sinai  desert  where  those  great  rocks 
rise  majestically  to  the  skies,  and  where  he  watches  the 
eagle  in  her  eyrie.  See  him  as  he  climbs  those  great 
heights  and  looks  down  upon  those  eaglets  in  their 
nests !  As  he  sees  the  wilderness  of  the  storms  !  "Moses 
is  really  learning  the  glory  of  his  God  as  he  is  alone 
with  Him  in  the  desert  at  Sinai;,  and  there  he  learns 
to  trust  God.  See  him  when  the  time  came  when  God 
called  him;  see  his  brow  as  it  knits;  as  he  forsakes 
Egypt;  he  thinks  of  the  responsibilities  before  him. 
Then  he  says,  “Lord,  I  love  my  people.  I  know  their 
hands  are  worn,  their  bodies  bleeding  and  their  backs 
have  felt  the  whip  of  the  taskmaster !  I  will  leave 
Egypt,  for  I  choose  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the 
people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a 
season.” 

That  was  the  type  of  a  man  he  was :  choosing  rather 
to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God. 

And  now  this  man  of  God  faces  the  problem  of  his 
life  and  says,  “Suffer  me  not  to  go  hence  unless  Thou 
go  with  me.”  And  the  reassuring  word  comes  back  in 
our  theme,  “My  presence  shall  go  with  thee.” 

The  living  faith  in  the  future  is  the  conviction  of 
the  present.  To-day  we  live — to-morrow  we  die.  No, 
'ixje  do  not!  For  “he  that  believeth  on  me  shall  never 
die.” 

What  words!  Take  them  in  their  exactness:  “He 
that  believeth  shall  never  die  ”  But  to-day  is  the  living 
of  them.  To-morrow  is  God’s.  What  of  the  morrow? 
How  little  we  know !  The  stones  which  we  build  one 


100  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

upon  another  fit  in  their  places.  The  buildings  which 
we  erect,  the  associations  of  the  material  world,  in  time 
crumble  to  dust,  but  something  is  never  destroyed. 
The  character  which  you  put  into  your  child,  and  which 
you  cultivate  and  develop,  lives  in  the  child,  and  on  in 
his  child,  and  on  in  his  child,  to  the  hundreds  of  genera¬ 
tions  ;  and  thus  we  build  stones  one  upon  another,  and 
this  temple  is  erected  that  you  and  I  may  honor  God 
with  permanent  characters. 

Thus  nations  are  made,  and  thus  history  is  made,  and 
this  is  the  crowning  blessing  of  Almighty  God.  How 
do  we  dare  go  up  hence  unless  His  Spirit  go  with  us? 
“Let  the  words  of  my  mouth  and  the  meditation  of 
my  heart  be  acceptable  in  Thy  sight.” 

And  just  a  word  as  we  look  back.  One  day,  on  one 
of  the  great  famous  mountains  of  Switzerland,  after 
the  helpful  machinery  of  electricity  and  a  long  climb, 
we  reached  the  summit.  But  it  was  all  cloud  and  mist ; 
not  a  single  vision-point.  We  had  heard  of  the  rich¬ 
ness  of  the  great  Bernese  Overland  with  its  matchless 
splendor  and  its  changing  colors.  But  not  a  sight.  All 
was  mist.  And  then,  suddenly,  by  a  mere  accident,  as 
it  were,  we  gained  a  vista  through  the  cloud ;  just  as  if 
a  great  archway  had  been  created,  and  there  the  vast 
Overland  reached  a  hundred  miles  into  the  vista,  with 
its  rich  color  and  majesty ;  and  then,  the  mist  again,  and 
all  was  gone — but  the  sight  we  have  never  forgotten. 

Look  for  a  moment,  for  this  service  is  not  one  of 
eulogy,  not  one  of  sadness;  look  for  a  moment 
through  the  vista  of  years,  and  see  what  is  before  us. 
Reaching  back — not  forty  years,  but  more — to  the 
•blending  of  this  church  in  her  union  from  those 


MY  PRESENCE  SHALL  GO  WITH  THEE  101 


churches  which  had  been  related  to  us,  those  south  of 
us;  read  the  names  of  the  saints  of  God.  But  this  will 
come  later  in  the  historical  relationships  that  we  are  to 
talk  about  in  the  week  to  come. 

Paul’s  great  words :  “Forgetting  those  things  which 
are  behind  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which 
are  before,”  were  not  spoken  as  he  considered  the 
errors  and  failings  of  his  life,  but  were  given  to  us  just 
after  he  had  repeated  the  noble  conditions  in  his  life 
which  made  him  first  among  his  people  in  inheritance 
and  blessing.  “If  any  other  man  thinketh  that  he  hath 
whereof  he  might  trust  in  the  flesh,  I  more :  Circum¬ 
cised  the  eighth  day,  of  the  stock  of  Israel,  of  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin,  an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews ;  as  touching 
the  law,  a  Pharisee ;  concerning  zeal,  persecuting  the 
church ;  touching  the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law, 
blameless.  But  wrhat  things  were  gain  to  me,  those  I 
counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea  doubtless,  and  I  count  all 
things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus  my  Lord :  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the 
loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  refuse,  that  I 
may  win  Christ.  And  be  found  in  him,  not  having 
mine  own  righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that 
which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness 
which  is  of  God  by  faith :  That  I  may  know  him,  and 
the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  his 
sufferings,  being  made  comformable  unto  his  death :  If 
by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead.  Not  as  though  I  had  already  attained,  either 
were  already  perfect:  but  I  follow  after,  if  that  I  may 
apprehend  that  for  which  also  I  am  apprehended  of 
Christ  Jesus.  Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have 


102  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

apprehended :  but  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before.  I  press  toward  the  mark  for 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.” 

It  is  only  a  look,  but  close  for  a  moment  your  eyes 
and  see  and  think  of  those  whose  names  are  indelibly 
written  upon  the  history  of  this  church,  whose  lives 
and  characters  make  sacred  the  associations  of  the  past. 
It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  some  have  said,  “I  want 
my  old  pew.”  It  is  not  strange  that  some  should  cling 
to  the  associations  that  are  here.  The  constant  com¬ 
munion  services  as  they  have  sped  month  by  month;  the 
birth  of  children  and  their  coming  into  the  church; 
the  baptising  of  little  children  who  now  have  grown 
into  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  whose  own  littlfc 
children  have  been  baptised  here.  You  remember  last 
Thanksgiving — or  it  may  have  been  Christmas — one  of 
those  who  united  with  us  was  the  fourth  generation  to 
unite  with  this  church. 

Think  of  what  it  means.  The  vista  is  ours,  and  we 
should  have  the  warmth  of  a  father’s  love!  And  God 
is  everywhere  with  us.  “My  presence  shall  go  with 
thee.”  Eternal  in  structure.  My  vital  thought  in  the 
divine  purpose  for  any  and  all  the  members  and  officers 
of  this  church  is  to  establish  the  reality  of  God’s  sacred 
Truth;  “Come  up  hence;  I  will  be  with  thee.”  “My 
presence  shall  abide  with  thee.” 

(Preached  by  Dr.  Stone  the  last  Sunday  in  the  Old  Fourth 
Church.) 


X 


THE  APPEAL  OF  THE  GOSPEL  MINISTRY 
“Then  said  I,  Here  am  I ;  send  me.” — Isaiah  6 :8. 

In  considering  a  subject  such  as  this  one,  it  is  usually 
necessary  for  a  speaker  to  gain  the  confidence  of  his 
audience  before  he  can  impress  them  with  a  sense  of 
personal  responsibility.  May  I  ask  you  to  give  me  a 
frank,  sympathetic  hearing  from  the  very  first? 

I  come  to  you  from  the  thick  of  active  work  in  a 
large  city  parish,  and  I  assure  you  I  would  rather  be  at 
work  there  now  than  speaking  here,  for  I  have  always 
discredited  the  man  who  is  more  anxious  to  be  heard  or 
seen  away  from  home  than  at  home  and  working  at 
his  job. 

The  importance  of  this  subject,  however,  warrants 
earnest  thought  and  general  as  well  as  individual  atten¬ 
tion.  It  is  not  to  be  relegated  to  those  who  have  decided 
to  study  for  the  ministry  or  enter  mission  fields,  but 
must  be  faced  also  by  those  who  aim  to  make  the  most 
of  their  lives  and  have  not  decided  what  to  do. 

Jesus  Christ  is  worthy  of  the  best  the  nation  has,  and 
needs  able  men,  with  strong  bodies,  alert  minds  and 
pure  hearts  to  do  His  work  in  ministering  to  the  world. 

At  one  time  Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  Amherst  and 
other  leading  colleges  sent  a  large  percentage  of  their 
sons  into  the  ministry.  This  is  not  so  to-day.  In 

103 


104  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

recent  decades  the  smaller  denominational  institutions 
have  taken  a  far  lead  in  providing  these  men.  In  some 
of  our  Western  States  it  is  reported  that  more  men 
without  college  training  are  now  ordained  as  ministers 
than  those  who  have  had  academic  study.  This  ques¬ 
tion  demands  thought  and  the  thought  of  men  who  are 
now  studying  in  our  American  colleges.  Here  is  a  field 
fitted  to  every  type  of  man  and  a  field  which  needs  men 
of  strength  and  character;  men  who  are  willing  to 
“endure  hardness,”  and  men  who  are  not  afraid  of 
work.  The  old  popular  falsity  that  any  man  can  enter 
the  ministry,  especially  the  man  who  cannot  succeed  at 
other  things,  is  worn  out.  It  never  was  true,  but  it  is 
farther  from  the  truth  now  than  ever.  A  man  who 
cannot  succeed  in  almost  anything  he  undertakes  is  not 
the  man  we  need,  but  rather  the  man  who  can  succeed 
elsewhere  will  succeed  here  and  is  needed.  Men  are 
succeeding  in  the  ministry  to-day  who  could  and  would 
succeed  anywhere,  and  are  in  countless  instances  giving 
up  opportunities  which  are  attractive,  fascinating  and 
lucrative. 

We  ask  you  first  to  consider  the  limit  of  life  as  re¬ 
lated  to  death. 

Estimating  three  generations  to  a  century,  almost 
sixty  generations  have  gone  since  Jesus  Christ  was 
born.  We  understand  sixteen  hundred  millions  of 
people  inhabit  the  earth  to-day.  The  sixty  generations 
mean  that  over  ninety  billion  people  have  lived  and  died 
since  Christ  came. 

The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  takes  on  astounding 
proportion  where  such  a  task,  past,  present  and  future, 
faces  us.  The  ministers  and  missionaries,  above  all 


THE  APPEAL  OF  GOSPEL  MINISTRY  105 


other  men,  are  set  apart  to  proclaim  and  reveal  the 
mystery  and  truth  of  life  and  death  to  men,  and  yet  no 
other  calling  is  looked  upon  so  carelessly  and  indiffer¬ 
ently  by  the  majority  of  men  and  students.  “Life  and 
Immortality”  were  brought  to  light  by  Jesus  Christ, 
and  these  for  the  world.  If  a  man  lives  his  seventy  or 
eighty  years,  with  fifty  or  sixty  of  them  in  active 
service,  what  does  it  all  amount  to  if  he  is  only  an 
accumulator,  a  collector,  or  a  seeker  and  gatherer  of 
things,  called  pleasure,  goods  or  money? 

When  death  comes  he  leaves  it  all.  But  if  he  has 
used  his  life  aright  and  influenced  others  aright  that 
influence  and  life  will  stretch  out  into  eternal  and  ever¬ 
lasting  force. 

“Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 

And  departing,  leave  behind  us — ” 

These  are  the  worth- whiles  of  life.  No  work  nor 
calling  exists  which  compares  with  the  minister’s  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  set  in  perpetual  motion  moral  and  worthy 
forces  centring  in  the  very  life  of  the  future  and  an 
eternal  future. 

Again,  the  appeal  is  made  to  you  to  consider  the 
Gospel  ministry  because  of  the  reawakened  conscience 
of  spiritual  values. 

Men  are  conscious  of  a  great  need.  Editors,  edu¬ 
cators,  business  men — all  are  asking,  what  can  and  will 
correct  the  disorders  of  society?  What  will  prevent 
the  recurrence  and  growth  of  crime  and  lawlessness? 
Sin  has  just  wrought  a  world-wide  international  devas- 


106  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

tation  and  disorder.  Material  dependence  seems  sui¬ 
cidal.  Spiritual  value  has  become  self-assertive. 

From  the  “Wall  Street  Journal”  to  the  soap-box 
orator  men  are  calling  for  a  new  order  “wherein  dwell- 
eth  righteousness.”  Studying  the  philosophy  of  religion 
has  not  given  it  to  men.  The  conscience  is  aroused  and 
the  heart  and  intellect  are  sensitive  to  the  appeal  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  everywhere  the  world  is  seeking 
men  who  know  God  to  lead  them. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  making  a  new  appeal  to  men. 
Churches  by  the  score  have  more  men  in  them  than 
women.  Men  with  a  message  and  spiritual  vision  are 
attracting  men  and  guiding  this  new  conscience  into 
faith  and  service.  This  wave  is  gaining  size  and  force, 
and  it  sweeps  on  with  tidal  proportion.  A  new  con¬ 
science  demands  a  new  devotion,  and  a  new  commit¬ 
ment  of  men  of  training,  purpose  and  power. 

This  leads  us  to  the  appeal  of  the  world's  need. 

This,  of  course,  is  the  old  and  controlling  argument, 
and  it  ever  will  be.  An  unmet  need  will  never  be  less 
nor  more  silent  a  need.  God  sent  His  Son  to  save  the 
world,  and  that  world  is  not  yet  saved.  Never  have  we 
known  that  need  as  now.  The  printed  page,  the  open 
book,  the  myriad  voices  who  proclaim,  the  daily  press, 
the  wires  of  the  telegraph  and  telephone,  the  wireless, 
the  radio,  the  ocean  steamers,  the  post-office  systems 
which  fill  the  whole  earth — these  all  tell  and  re-echo  the 
world's  need. 

Superstition,  idolatry,  ignorance,  immorality,  fam¬ 
ine,  disease,  crime,  prejudice,  jealousy,  deceit,  slavery 
and  above  all,  war,  with  all  its  deeds  and  effects,  force 


THE  APPEAL  OF  GOSPEL  MINISTRY  107 

upon  us  the  need  the  old  world  has  for  the  saving,  con¬ 
structing  power  of  Christian  character  and  life. 

Who  can  lead  and  assist  in  meeting  this  need  better 
than  a  trained  and  tried  ministry? 

Growing  out  of  this  world-need  a  double  appeal  de¬ 
velops  :  it  is  the  appeal  of  the  unattained  and  the  appeal 
of  the  unattempted.  These  have  the  spirit  of  the 
pioneer  in  them. 

Why  do  we  love  to  read  Francis  Parkman’s  his- 
tories  ?  Because  they  appeal  to  the  pioneer  in  us.  He 
writes  of  men  who  attempted  the  unattained  and  un¬ 
attempted. 

In  the  mountains  or  deep  woods,  we  can  get  back 
where  the  foot  of  man  has  not  trod,  or  where  only  the 
red  man  has  stalked,  and  there  we  love  to  go,  and  why? 
Because  there  is  a  fascination  in  the  unattained.  This 
is  a  natural  human  inclination,  but  when  linked  to  faith 
and  purpose  it  becomes  a  mighty  and  irresistible  force. 
It  sent  out  Carey  and  Moffat  and  Henry  Martyn  as 
pioneers  over  a  century  ago.  It  has  been  sending  out 
men  of  vision  ever  since.  It  discovered  this  new  world 
through  Columbus.  It  guided  the  Mayflower  and 
landed  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

When  I  was  a  lad  of  high  school  age,  and  even  later, 
when  in  Amherst  College,  there  wTas  a  very  popular 
book  written  by  Professor  Matthews  entitled  “Getting 
On  in  the  World.”  Many  a  college  essay  and  oration 
found  its  suggestion  in  those  pages.  How  well  I 
remember  what  it  said  in  substance  as  to  the  power  of 
the  unattained.  This  theme  meant  much  to  the  college 
students  of  those  days.  It  was  in  those  days  that  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement,  the  Morning  Watch  and 


108  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

kindred  movements  were  born.  They  were  generated 
in  the  enthusiasm  of  this  great  power  of  the  unattained. 

Such  purpose  sent  Adolphus  Good  to  the  West 
African  Mission,  and  Wilder  and  Foreman  to  India, 
and  the  Ewings  to  India,  and  Stead  to  Persia,  and 
Rodgers  to  the  Philippines.  It  put  men  of  brain,  brawn 
and  breeding  into  the  ministry  as  well — men  who  saw 
a  great  work  to  be  done  and  gave  themselves  freely, 
even  if  they  could  do  but  a  small  part  of  it. 

This  appeal  of  the  unattained  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
closely  associated  with  the  appeal  of  the  unattempted. 
The  old  missionary  who  made  his  motto,  “Expect  great 
things  from  God  and  attempt  great  things  for  God,” 
had  the  vision.  He  was  not  willing  to  let  God  act  with¬ 
out  acting  himself.  His  great  expectations  were  his 
great  attempts,  and  he  never  let  the  precedent  of  the 
unattempted  quell  his  enthusiasm. 

The  unattempted  for  God  and  man  will  always  be 
the  chance  which  faces  the  man  of  size  and  character. 
Once  when  preaching  at  Princeton,  during  the  lead¬ 
ership  of  Mr.  Wilson,  he  mentioned  a  remarkable 
sermon  recently  preached  by  Dr.  Richards,  then  pastor 
of  the  Brick  Church  in  New  York.  The  subject  was 
“The  Monotony  of  Sin.”  He  told  how  every  form  of 
sin  was  old  long  ago;  the  ancient  cities  of  Nineveh  and 
Babylon  knew  all  forms  of  sin.  It  had  lost  its  original¬ 
ity.  But  when  a  human  life  comes  into  touch  with 
Jesus  Christ  new  discoveries  in  righteousness  develop, 
for  a  new  personality  comes  into  contact  with  divine 
wisdom  and  suggestion.  The  unattained  is  attempted, 
and  only  God  knows  how  great  the  result  and  how 
marvellous  the  influence  may  be. 


THE  APPEAL  OF  GOSPEL  MINISTRY  109 


The  unattempted  for  God  is  a  future  opportunity  in 
the  Christian  ministry  as  never  before.  God  and  man 
want  ministers  and  men  who  are  different.  We  want 
men  who  are  not  afraid  of  new  problems,  who  glory  in 
difficulties,  who  face  the  future,  hard  as  it  may  be,  with 
determination  and  a  smile,  who  “know  no  future  but 
God,"  who  “act,  act  in  the  living  present,  heart  within 
and  God  o’erhead.”  Men,  who  like  Abraham  of  old, 
go  out  “they  know  not  where/'  but  go  with  vigour  and 
faith  to  attempt  for  God  the  unattempted. 

This  is  not  of  necessity  a  call  from  afar,  nor  a  call  to 
cross  the  desert  or  the  sea.  The  hardest  task  to-day 
may  be  in  one’s  own  state  or  city;  in  fact,  at  one’s  very 
door.  The  ministry  at  home  needs  able  and  inde¬ 
pendent  men  to  guide  and  reinforce  the  strategic 
centres  so  swiftly  building  in  the  growth  of  our  day. 

Who  knows  what  God  may  do  with  those  who  will 
trust  Him,  giving  themselves  wholly  to  his  direction! 
The  power  of  God  follows  the  attempts  of  men  when 
faith,  will,  diligence  and  consecration  unite. 

Some  years  ago  a  student  of  Princeton  was  riding 
past  Lawrenceville  on  the  Trenton  trolley  when  he  was 
addressed  by  his  seatmate  and  in  the  conversation  was 
asked  to  go  out  to  India  to  help  in  the  work  they  were 
trying  to  do  at  Allahabad.  The  agricultural  oppor¬ 
tunity  was  undeveloped  and  unattempted.  He  went, 
and  now  the  work  of  Sam  Higginbottom  is  known 
from  sea  to  sea.  He  has  done  as  much,  if  not  more,  to 
revolutionise  the  soil-cultivation  of  India  and  help  the 
native  in  his  native  soil  as  any  living  man,  and  the  end 
is  not  yet. 

In  Chicago  we  have  a  man,  still  young,  who  came  to 


110  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

our  city  about  a  dozen  years  ago.  He  was  unknown 
and  inexperienced,  save  in  a  small  church  where  he  had 
begun  his  ministry  in  a  small  suburban  city,  but  he 
was  an  attempter.  This  man  has  built  up  one  of  the 
strongest  and  livest  church  organisations  in  the  Central 
West  and  they  are  soon  to  build  their  new  church.  He 
was  not  over  strong,  nor  particularly  gifted,  but  he  was 
a  man  of  large  faith,  unlimited  vision,  industrious 
energy  and  willing  attempt.  He  has  built  himself  and 
his  church  into  our  city  and  its  problems.  His  influence 
cannot  be  estimated.  He  is  honoured,  respected  and 
beloved. 

Others  like  him  are  doing  the  same  thing  with  their 
own  personalities  and  gifts  all  over  the  nation.  The 
young  men  in  the  ministry  to-day  are  becoming  a 
power  in  so  far  as  they  are  men  of  God,  men  of  the 
Word,  and  men  who  live  with  and  like  Jesus  Christ, 
but  they  need  reinforcement. 

The  appeal  of  the  Gospel  ministry  has  always  evi¬ 
denced  the  heroic.  Courage  has  characterised  the  min¬ 
istry  from  the  days  of  Stephen  and  St.  Paul.  The  front 
rank  means  courage,  and  ever  will. 

“Move  to  the  fore, 

Say  not  another  is  fitter  than  thou, 

Shame  to  thy  shrinking,  up,  face  thy  task  now. 
Own  thyself  equal  to  all  a  soul  may. 

Cease  thy  evading,  God  needs  thee  to-day. 

“Move  to  the  fore. 

God  Himself  waits  and  must  wait  till  thou  come; 
Men  are  God’s  prophets  tho’  ages  lie  dumb ; 

Halts  the  Christ  kingdom  with  conquests  so  near  ? 
Thou  art  the  cause  then,  thou  soul  in  the  rear, 

Move  to  the  fore.” 


THE  APPEAL  OF  GOSPEL  MINISTRY  111 


When  I  was  a  pastor  in  Baltimore,  many  years  ago, 
a  student  from  the  Johns  Hopkins  Medical  attracted 
my  attention  and  won  my  admiration  and  affection. 
He  came  across  the  city,  rain  or  shine,  faithfully 
attended  our  services  at  Brown  Memorial  Church,  and 
among  other  things  started  a  normal  class  for  Bible 
study  in  our  Bible  school. 

During  his  course  of  four  years  he  diligently  read 
and  studied  books  on  China,  India, .  Africa,  Siam,, 
Japan,  South  America  and  other  countries.  Whenever 
I  asked  him  where  he  was  going  he  seemed  uncertain. 
His  strong  personality,  winsome  independence,  striking 
endurance,  evident  unselfishness  and  unflinching  but 
humble  faith  were  notable. 

One  day  he  asked  me  if  I  cared  if  he  did  not  go  out 
under  our  own  denominational  board,  and  receiving 
the  answer  that  that  was,  after  all,  secondary,  he  volun¬ 
teered  the  information  that  he  wanted  to  go  to  Arabia. 
“Why  Arabia?’*  was  asked.  “Well,"  came  the  honest 
reply,  “it’s  the  hardest  field  I  can  find  and  one  of  the 
most  needy,  and  nobody  else  seems  to  want  to  go 
there.’’  He  went.  About  that  time  Dr.  Samuel 
Zwemer,  that  blessed  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
great  heroic  soul,  was  transferred  from  Arabia  to  take 
charge  of  all  the  work  among  the  followers  of  Islam, 
and  was  stationed  in  Cairo  in  Egypt.  This  same  Dr. 
Paul  Harrison,  fresh  from  Johns  Hopkins,  prac¬ 
tically  took  his  place,  and  from  Dr.  Zwemer ’s  own  lips 
came  the  testimony  after  three  vears  that  “Harrison  is 
a  prince,  one  of  the  most  useful  Christian  forces  in 
that  vast  untouched  country  of  history,  desert  and 
need.”  Read  Harrison’s  article  on  Arabia  in  a  recent 


112  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

number  of  “The  Atlantic  Monthly”  if  you  would  know 
this  modern  hero. 

Once  when  operating  on  a  famous  Arabian  the  need 
quickly  arose  of  transmitting  a  delicate  bit  of  flesh  from 
the  living  to  save  a  life.  When  others  hesitated  this 
medical  man  and  minister  himself  volunteered,  letting 
others  finish  the  operation,  and  thus  saved  the  life. 
That  Arabian  gave  the  Lord  the  glory  and  declared  he 
had  never  known  such  faith  and  love  before,  nor  seen 
this  kind  of  Christianity  revealed. 

When  I  was  speaking  at  his  University,  the  Univer¬ 
sity  of  Nebraska,  last  fall  they  cheered  him,  twelve 
hundred  strong,  at  a  gathering  of  students,  and  one 
full-souled  student  shouted  amidst  the  applause,  “Men 
like  Paul  Harrison  have  put  college  on  the  map.” 

This  type  of  men  is  needed  in  America  as  well  as  in 
Arabia,  and  the  reflex  influence  of  their  lives  is  needed 
in  our  colleges  to  inspire  other  red-blooded,  vital  men 
to  follow  their  example.  Sometimes  when  I  looked  at 
the  men  in  McCormick  Seminary,  where  I  had  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  teaching  last  fall  for  a  friend  who  was  ill,  I 
thanked  God  for  the  type  of  men  who  are  responding 
to  the  call  and  going  out  to  preach  the  irresistible 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

This  is  the  heroic  task  for  you  men  to  consider. 
Your  influence  here  and  now  in  influencing  your  college 
mates  is  far  greater  than  you  know.  One  year  at 
Northfield,  yes,  a  dozen  years  ago,  I  saw  a  lad  sitting  in 
the  front  row  who  seemed  uneasy  and  restless.  Dr. 
Grenfell  was  speaking  that  night  on  “The  Heroic  in 
Service.”  Soon  the  fellow,  whose  face  showed  his 
high  calibre,  was  won.  He  became  intensely  interested. 


THE  APPEAL  OF  GOSPEL  MINISTRY  113 

After  the  meeting  he  was  eager  to  be  introduced  to  Dr. 
Grenfell.  I  walked  away  with  the  lad.  “Father  wants 
me  to  go  to  Europe  next  year,”  he  volunteered.  He 
had  graduated  from  Cornell  the  June  before.  -“But 
after  to-night’s  talk,”  he  said,  “I’m  going  back  to  col¬ 
lege  and  get  hold  of  the  Fraternity  bunch,”  and  he  did. 
In  November  I  had  a  postal  from  Ted  Mercer  which 
read,  “Eight  hundred  Frat  men  out  to-night  to  hear 
me,”  and  then  he  added  the  name  of  this  man,  saying, 
“he  is  responsible  for  it.” 

Young  men,  now  is  your  biggest  influence.  To  de¬ 
cide  now  means  to  influence  the  other  fellow.  To 
consider  this  appeal  seriously  means  to  call  it  to  the 
attention  of  the  other  men  in  college  and  university. 

Before  closing  this  appeal  I  want  to  impress  you 
with  the  emergency  of  this  calk  The  emergency  man 
is  one  of  the  most  valuable  men  to  his  time.  The  Gospel 
ministry  will  always  need  recruits,  but  these  days  of 
uncertainty,  these  difficult  readjustment  and  recon¬ 
struction  days  are  extreme  in  their  need.  As  one  who 
sees  and  feels  and  experiences  the  need,  I  appeal  to  you 
men  of  student  life.  I  appeal  to  all  types  and  kinds. 
God  can  use  you.  Not  only  the  scholarly  men,  the 
eloquent  men,  the  pious  men,  but  all  of  you.  He  needs 
rugged  Peters  just  as  much  as  business  and  executive 
Matthews.  He  needs  faithful  Lukes  and  magnetic, 
passion-filled,  vision-souled  Johns.  We  are  facing  a 
great  emergency. 

Did  you  ever  see  an  unassisted  triple  play  on  the 
baseball  field?  I  never  saw  but  one.  The  third  base- 
man  seemed  to  anticipate,  to  have  some  intuition.  This 


114  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

sort  of  sixth  sense  makes  great  players  in  every  game 
of  life.  It  creates  the  emergency  man.  He  should 
have  played  up  nearer  second,  but  the  game  was  intense. 
The  outfield  had  played  the  first  half  of  the  ninth;  the 
score  was  six  to  four  in  their  favour.  The  team  at  bat 
was  playing  its  last  half  of  the  ninth.  No  one  was  out. 
The  bases  were  full,  every  runner  taking  a  good  lead. 
Their  heaviest  batter  was  up.  The  pitcher  swung;  the 
third  baseman,  quite  out  of  the  ordinary,  ran  over  and 
covered  third ;  the  batter  put  a  hard  high  liner  right  over 
third  like  a  cannon  ball;  it  looked  like  a  deep  field  hit; 
each  runner  was  off!  The  third  baseman  went  up  in 
the  air  with  his  gloved  hand,  nailed  the  ball,  came  down 
on  the  bag,  reached  out  and  touched  the  man  speeding 
from  second  over  third  for  home;  threw  down  his 
glove,  walked  in;  it  was  all  over.  One,  two,  three, 
unassisted.  The  crowd  didn’t  realise,  was  paralysed, 
then  went  mad,  and  the  third  baseman  was  carried  high 
on  the  shoulders  of  his  comrades  from  the  field. 

He  was  an  emergency  man.  Are  you  ?  The  game  is 
on.  It  is  intense.  We’re  ahead,  but  the  bases  are  full. 
Hardhitting  men  are  at  bat.  With  the  mind  and  power 
of  Jesus  Christ  you  can  be  an  emergency  man !  Will 
you? 

Students  of  Wabash  College,  yours  has  been  an 
earnest  history.  Together  with  other  college  men  you 
have  an  Alma  Mater  and  a  name  of  which  to  be  proud. 
Your  sons,  like  the  sons  of  my  Alma  Mater,  Amherst 
have  been  in  the  past  leaders  in  the  ministry,  as  in  every 
field.  Will  you  follow  on?  Will  you  help  our  Charm 
pion,  Jesus  Christ,  when  and  where  most  He  needs 


THE  APPEAL  OF  GOSPEL  MINISTRY  115 


you?  Will  you  think  and  pray  upon  the  great  subject 
of  this  appeal,  and  will  you  join  us  who  are  spending 
our  lives,  and  that  right  heartily  and  happily,  for  God 
and  men  in  the  Gospel  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

(First  lectures  on  ‘‘The  Ministry”  under  the  John  N.  Mills 
foundation  at  Wabash  College.) 


XI 


RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  GREAT  RICHES 

“All  these  things  have  I  observed;  what  lack  I 
yet?” — Matthew  19:20. 

This  story  of  the  rich  young  ruler  who  came  to  the 
Master  seeking  the  inheritance  of  eternal  life  is  one  of 
the  most  popular  and  influential  stories  of  all  Gospel 
writing.  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke  all  record  it.  There 
is  a  naturalness  and  tenderness  in  the  story  which 
appeal  to  all.  The  question  which  the  rich  young  ruler 
sought  to  have  answered,  the  one  great  question  deep 
down  in  the  human  heart,  ever  remains.  What  is 
immortality  ?  What  must  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eter¬ 
nal  life? 

A  fellow  minister  recently  repeated  the  conversation 
of  a  companion  seated  near  him  on  his  journey  from 
California.  The  man  was  a  noted  character  in  the 
public  humour  of  the  day  and  was  well  known  in  the 
moving  picture  world,  but  a  rough,  coarse  man.  He 
was  telling  of  a  great  contract  which  awaited  him  in 
the  east  and  how  after  he  had  met  his  engagement  he 
would  be  paid  a  large  amount  of  money. 

“Well,”  said  my  friend,  “what  then?” 

“Oh,”  he  said,  “then  I  am  going  to  settle  down  for  a 
good  time  and  have  all  the  fun  that  is  coming  to  any 

man — live  on  my  wealth,  and  do  what  I  please.” 

116 


RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  GREAT  RICHES  117 

My  friend  said  in  reply,  “And  what  then?” 

“Oh,”  he  said,  “I  will  do  a  little  work  now  and  then, 
but  with  money  enough  to  live  on  I  am  going  to  retire 
and  grow  old  comfortably.” 

“But  what  then?” 

“Oh,”  he  said,  “I  suppose  I  shall  grow  old  and  make 
the  most  of  it.” 

My  friend  still  persisted:  “And  what  then?” 

Whereupon  the  man  arose  somewhat  uneasily  and 
said:  “Well,  we  won’t  go  into  that,”  and  he  went  up 
into  the  smoker. 

It  is  the  same  old  question — What  must  I  do  to 
inherit  eternal  life?  But  instead  of  coming  from  a 
careless,  thoughtless  spendthrift  who  had  made  money 
easily,  it  came  to  the  Saviour  from  a  well-to-do  young 
man  who  was  earnest  as  to  his  future,  who  wished  to 
know  the  price  of  service  in  attaining  eternal  life.  The 
commandments  which  the  Saviour  selected  in  reply  to 
his  question  are  notable  ones.  They  relate  to  the  rights 
of  mankind;  to  the  order  of  society;  to  purity  of  life; 
to  honesty  among  men;  to  the  protection  of  the  home, 
and  that  other  great  command  added  which  touched  the 
neighbourliness  of  life,  and  which  answers  all  ques¬ 
tions  of  strife,  whether  among  men  or  nations  :  “Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.” 

The  young  man  had  been  true  to  these  commands; 
he  had  lived  a  consistent  life;  but  something  was  lack¬ 
ing.  “What  lack  I  yet?”  he  asked  the  Master.  Then 
came  a  clear,  specific  statement  of  his  sins.  The  Master 
uncovered  to  him  the  bare,  actual  tragedy  of  his  life, 
all  unseen  and  unknown,  for  it  was  covered  by  good 
deeds  and  other  consistent  living.  “Go,  sell  that  which 


118  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor;  and  thou  shalt  have 
treasure  in  heaven.” 

The  philosopher  of  old  said:  “Not  one  penny  can 
we  take  with  us  into  the  unknown  land.”  No  matter 
what  the  wealth  of  this  rich  young  ruler,  it  was  not 
enough  to  gain  an  entrance  into  that  eternity  of  life 
where  God  forever  dwells  with  his  own.  Doctor 
Johnson  once  said,  “Attainment  is  followed  by  neglect 
and  possession  by  disgust.”  He  might  have  added, 
“Mere  attainment  is  followed  by  neglect  and  mere  pos¬ 
session  by  disgust.” 

This  young  man,  with  all  his  rich  possession  and  his 
earnest  life,  was  possessed  by  these  things,  instead  of 
possessing  them.  His  attainment  was  followed  by 
neglect,  his  possession  by  disgust,  and  he  went  away 
sorrowful.  The  greatest  peril  of  possession  is  in  its 
control :  it  controls  mankind ;  it  controls  us,  instead  of 
allowing  us  to  control  it. 

The  war  so  recently  finished  is  not  ended  in  principle, 
even  if  ended  in  arms.  The  Great  War  is  not  one  of 
physical  strife,  ammunition,  and  equipment:  it  is  a 
great  strife  between  materialism  and  principle.  What 
the  nations  have  failed  to  do  with  arms  and  battleships 
they  are  seeking  to  do  with  the  mind  and  heart  of  man, 
and  this  has  been  the  policy  and  philosophy  from  the 
beginning.  The  faith  of  the  world  is  undermined  by 
the  emphasis  placed  upon  mere  materialism.  There  has 
been  no  penitence  nor  armistice  along  this  line.  Mate¬ 
rialism  is  subtle  and  keen  in  her  determination  to  under¬ 
mine  spiritual  force  in  her  attainment  of  the  spiritual 
ideal.  This  is  the  constant  and  compelling  argu¬ 
ment  of  materialism.  In  her  logic,  possession  is 


RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  GREAT  RICHES  119 


the  aim  of  life;  material  accumulation  surpassing 
value  of  attainment.  Possessed  by  this  insane  and 
wicked  avarice,  nations  may  betray  the  world  by  false 
philosophy,  unconscious  of  the  destruction  which  has 
been  brought  upon  themselves  by  its  aim  and  use.  This 
would  disunite  the  nations  in  creating  within  mankind 
individually  the  selfish  assertiveness  of  personal  rights, 
and  would  lead  men  away  one  from  another  in  an  am¬ 
bition  to  regulate  their  own  affairs  and  control  their 
own  possessions. 

We  are  not  here  to  assert  that  the  League  of  Nations 
will  solve  the  problem,  but  we  are  here  to  assert  that  a 
compact  of  Nations,  whether  this  or  another,  must  re¬ 
late  itself  to  our  own  problem  as  we  consider  the  prob¬ 
lems  of  others,  for  nations  as  well  as  men  must  follow 
the  rule  “Love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself. ” 

We  are  living  in  times  of  great  necessity.  The 
problems  of  men,  cities  and  nations ;  the  problems  of 
capital  and  labour;  the  problems  of  railroad  control,  and 
all  that  goes  with  the  related  problems  of  transporta¬ 
tion  and  commerce,  are  entering  into  the  thoughts  and 
relationship  of  men  as  never  before.  Great  men  must 
see  eye  to  eye,  solving  these  great  problems  and  dis¬ 
covering  mutual  benefit  one  for  another.  Whether  the 
League  of  Nations,  or  a  League  of  Nations,  there  need 
be  no  disregard  of  the  great  national  rights  of  indi- 
dividual  nations,  no  disregard  of  the  great  independent 
and  related  rights  of  all  nations.  There  is  no  reason 
why  a  League  of  Nations  should  interfere  with  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  or  disregard  the  great  primal  prin¬ 
ciples  of  our  Constitution.  We  must  be  loyal  to  the 
future  and  loyal  to  others,  as  we  conserve  the  noble 


120  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

statutes  of  the  past,  and  regard  with  responsibility  our 
own  national  and  individual  trust. 

This  even  brings  more  clearly  before  us  our  subject. 
The  perils  of  possession  may  rob  us  of  the  possession 
of  the  control  of  our  time.  Great  Britain  has  learned 
many  things  which  we  have  not  as  yet  learned,  just  as 
we  have  learned  many  things  in  which  we  may  instruct 
her.  Among  these  lessons  is  that  of  the  strong,  able 
man  giving  his  strength  and  intelligence  to  the  nation. 
He  may  disregard  his  individual  problems  as  he  retires ; 
but  he  must  retire  into  the  larger  service,  with  all  his 
gifts  and  abilities  for  the  nation. 

I  well  remember,  years  ago,  standing  by  an  English 
lawn  as  several  elderly  men  were  bowling  on  the  green. 
I  remember  one  man,  of  marked  personality  and  ap¬ 
parent  age,  with  his  silk  cap  and  his  grey  beard,  as  he 
bowled  his  ball.  His  personality  and  bearing  attracted 
me,  and  upon  inquiring  who  he  was,  I  learned  that  he 
was  a  great  English  shipbuilder,  but  was  retired  and 
was  now  giving  his  entire  time  to  the  interests  of 
the  nation.  He  bowled  every  day  to  keep  himself  in 
physical  trim  for  the  great  responsibilities  that  were 
his.  His  possessions  were  not  controlling  him,  but  he 
was  controlling  his  possessions.  *He  was  giving  him¬ 
self  wholly  to  the  nation  in  her  great  need  and  in  her 
great  problems. 

This  is  a  lesson  which  we  need  to  learn  here  in 
America,  and  which  we  are  beginning  to  learn  increas¬ 
ingly.  The  great  enterprises  of  our  own  nation  require 
the  ablest  thinking  and  the  best  minds  of  our  well- 
trained,  mature  leaders.  As  men  have  given  themselves 
to  the  great  needs  of  the  nation  now  in  working  with- 


RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  GREAT  RICHES  121 

out  reward  for  the  government ;  as  men  have  faced  the 
great  issues  of  the  Liberty  Loan,  the  Red  Cross,  and 
other  national  calls;  as  men  have  left  office  and  home 
to  take  up  the  great  responsibilities  in  our  National 
City,  so  men  must  continue  to  face  the  needs  of  the 
nation  in  their  own  home  cities  and  townships,  and 
meet  those  problems  heroically  and  with  great  sacrifice 
of  time,  giving  themselves  instead  of  buying  the  time 
of  others  to  meet  the  great  demands  of  the  present. 

What  if  our  great  cities  should  find  able,  strong, 
inspiring  leaders  who  would  give  themselves  unspar¬ 
ingly  to  the  great  tasks,  such  as  the  mayoralty,  instead 
of  allowing  such  leading  positions  to  become  the  mere 
wrangling  centres  for  politicians  with  selfish  interests? 
This  must  be  the  standard  if  we  are  to  attain  and  over¬ 
come  the  peril  of  possession  in  the  use  of  our  time. 

Then  there  is  the  peril  of  controlling  our  thoughts,  of 
allowing  our  possessions  in  business  to  control  all  our 
thinking.  There  are  those  who  think  of  nothing  but 
dollars  and  cents.  They  are  wearied  when  prominent 
thoughts  are  brought  to  them  other  than  those  relating 
to  their  business  responsibilities.  They  are  so  weary 
in  mind  that  they  fall  asleep  as  they  think  of  other 
subjects.  The  great  problems  of  human  relationship, 
the  intercessions  of  men  and  organized  activity  do  not 
seem  to  interest  them ;  the  whole  problem  of  profit- 
sharing  is  not  a  vital  issue  with  them.  Thank  God,  it 
has  become  a  vital  issue  to  many ! 

Instead  of  calling  attention  with  the  pessimist  or 
anarchist  to  the  condition  that  exists*  let  us  remember 
how  much  has  been  done  along  this  line;  and  is  being 
done  to-day.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  firms  in  this 


122  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

country  are  now  engaged  increasingly  in  profit-sharing, 
and  those  who  are  doing  the  most  along  this  line  are 
advertising  themselves  the  least  in  such  activity.  In 
consecrating  thought  to  others  employed  by  them  they 
are  overcoming  possession  and  utilising  their  power  to 
overcome  this  common  peril. 

Then  there  must  be  the  heart  control.  We  must  give 
ourselves  because  we  love  the  tasks  which  are  before 
us.  This  is  the  spirit  of  modern  benevolence.  We  can 
never  love  to  give  until  we  love  those  to  whom  we  give, 
and  the  object  for  which  we  give.  The  rule  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  that  every  man  should  give  one-tenth 
of  his  income  to  the  Lord.  That  legally  belonged  to 
the  Lord,  but  there  are  those  to-day  who  are  disregard¬ 
ing  this  law  of  God  and  wondering  why  they  should 
consider  it.  It  is  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  all.  A 
Christian  man  who  does  not  give  at  least  one-tenth  of 
his  income  to  the  Lord’s  work  directly  in  one  form  or 
another,  is  not  fair  with  God !  God  honours  those  who 
thus  honour  Him.  Some  men  would  give  vast  sums  if 
this  were  true.  I  remember  an  instance  when  preach¬ 
ing  on  this  subject  years  ago,  a  man  responded,  “Why, 
if  I  gave  one-tenth  of  my  income  to  the  Lord,  I  would 
give  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  Him  every  year.” 
He  spoke  of  it  as  an  impossibility;  still  that  man  was 
practically  robbing  his  own  best  nature  by  not  doing  so. 

Irrespective  of  taxation  or  the  modern  problems  of 
income,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  one-tenth  of  all  that 
one  earns  belongs  to  God  and  should  be  given  to  him 
and  to  His  work.  Not  the  mere  meeting  of  incidental 
bills  in  the  house  of  God,  but  going  into  partnership 
with  the  Almighty  and  giving  because  one’s  heart  is 


RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  GREAT  RICHES  123 


right  before  Him.  If  we  love  Him  with  all  our  hearts, 
this  will  not  be  an  effort,  and  a  legal  amount  of  one- 
tenth  of  one’s  income  will  be  vastly  increased  as  we 
augment  it  and  give  of  our  abundance  to  the  work  of 
the  Lord. 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  has  failed  to  realise 
through  her  individual  membership  the  great  responsi¬ 
bilities  which  are  hers  in  preparing  for  the  future ;  in 
making  possible  the  work  of  the  future  by  storing  up 
the  agencies  of  money  and  wisdom  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  coming  generation.  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
a  very  central  force,  from  which  emanate  the  forces 
that  work  out  the  great  benefits  of  city  and  nation., 
In  the  church  originate  the  purpose  and  plans  to  ameli¬ 
orate  the  sufferings  of  society;  to  relieve  the  oppressed; 
to  save  the  sick  and  dying.  Here  start  our  great  hospi¬ 
tals  and  those  institutions  which  engender  Christian 
training.  Here  start  the  great  permanent  philanthro¬ 
pies  which  bless  society.  This  is  the  very  centre  from 
which  have  emanated  the  great  organisations  and  soci¬ 
eties  which  to-day  stand  for  the  betterment  of  man¬ 
kind.  The  church  is  the  dynamo  which  drives  the 
wheels  of  philanthropic  force  all  over  the  world.  We 
must  sustain  the  centre ;  we  must  subscribe  liberally  and 
freely  to  that  which  is  the  heart  and  head  of  the  whole 
matter.  Jesus  Christ  discovered  for  us  this  truth  and 
made  the  Church  which  bears  his  name  the  fosterer  of 
His  great  ideals  and  purposes.  We  may  have  kept  the 
commandments,  but  this  one  thing  we  yet  lack,  and  this 
is  the  giving  of  our  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and 
possessing  our  goods  instead  of  being  possessed  by 
them. 


124  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

No  wonder  Prescott,  the  historian,  asked  when  the 
body  of  the  young  miner  was  discovered  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  river  with  a  belt  of  gold  around  him,  “Did 
he  possess  his  money,  or  did  his  money  possess  him?” 
Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock  well  wrote,  “TI12  only  test 
of  possession  is  use.  A  lost  soul  is  one  that  God  cannot 
use  and  one  that  cannot  use  God ;  trustless,  prayerless, 
fruitless,  loveless,  is  it  not  so  far  lost?  Thus  a  man 
may  be  dead  while  he  lives.” 

This  man  of  our  text  went  away  sorrowful ;  we  knew 
nothing  of  him  or  his  future.  Strong  in  personality 
and  possession  in  life,  he  failed  because  he  had  great 
possessions  which  he  did  not  use  for  God.  Instead  of 
vitalising  his  wealth,  his  wealth  devitalised  him. 

There  is  a  joy  side  to  it  all.  It  is  not  what  we  have 
which  we  ever  retain.  It  is  that  which  we  give  which 
lives  with  us  forever,  and  the  great  Eternal  Life  is  the 
life  spent  in  the  consciousness  of  life  and  possession 
given  away.  Thus  we  are  to  spend  ourselves  and 
spend  that  which  we  have,  that  others  may  be  blessed 
and  that  the  world  may  be  saved. 


XII 


UNITY  IN  SERVICE 

“The  work  is  great  and  large  and  we  are  sepa- 
rated  upon  the  wall,  one  far  from  another.” 

— Nehemiah  4:19. 

The  theme  this  morning  is  Christian  Unity,  or  Unity 
in  Service.  “The  work  is  great  and  large  and  we  are 
separated.”  There  is  no  need  to  discuss  the  question 
of  unity  and  its  efficiency  in  the  general  service  of  life. 
God  did  not  make,  as  is  so  commonly  stated  to-day,  the 
individual  the  unit  in  society.  He  did  make  the  indi¬ 
vidual  the  unit  in  the  state  in  so  far  as  government  had 
been  organised,  but  he  did  not  make  the  individual  the 
unit  of  society.  He  made  the  family ,  the  home,  the 
unit  in  social  relationship ;  and  where  family  right  has 
disintegrated,  where  the  vows  of  the  marriage  altar 
have  been  looked  upon  lightly,  invariably  society  has 
disintegrated. 

God  made  the  home  the  unit  of  society,  and  He 
created  a  great  common  bond  in  human  hearts,  and  a 
desire  for  that  bond,  which  is  manifested  by  all  kinds 
of  organisations  and  fraternities  which  emphasise  the 
longing  for  brotherhood  in  human  kind.  There  never 
has  been  an  age,  statisticians  tell  us,  where  this  has 
gone  to  such  an  extreme  as  it  has  in  our  own  genera¬ 
tion.  There  are  Brotherhoods  everywhere — fraternal 

125 


126  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

units  in  society  of  all  kinds  and  of  all  character;  men 
who  work  in  the  same  employment,  men  who  have  the 
same  policies  and  methods,  men  who  have  the  same 
principle  in  their  ideals  and  purposes,  and  men  of 
the  same  kith  and  kin.  Then  there  are  men  who  have 
been  trained  in  the  same  centre  of  education,  men 
from  the  same  location  or  the  same  commonwealth.  It 
is  said  that  no  city  in  our  land  has  so  many  State 
organisations,  simply  social  in  character,  as  our  own 
city.  There  is  the  New  England  Society,  the  Indiana 
Society,  the  Empire  State  Society,  the  Ohio  Society, 
and  many  others,  and  recently  many  of  the  states  of  the 
West  as  well  as  the  East  have  organised  also. 

We  find  this  true  not  only  socially,  but  politically; 
organisations  exist  within  organisations.  Not  simply 
those  societies  which  are  known  to  the  world,  but 
perhaps  even  more  difficult  to  deal  with,  and  more 
dangerous  at  times,  are  the  secret  societies.  We  find 
that  even  religious  organisations  are  not  always  in  the 
open.  The  religious  organisations  which  have  done 
the  greatest  harm  in  the  world  have  not  been  those 
which  have  been  in  the  open,  but  organisations  which 
have  presented  one  thing  to  the  public  and  have  con¬ 
cealed  their  dominating  motive  from  the  public.  This 
sort  of  organisation  has  been  and  always  will  be 
dangerous,  until  sincere  democracy  of  government 
reaches  the  point  when  such  subtility  will  not  only  be 
frowned  upon,  but  will  be  wiped  out  by  the  force  of  the 
public  opinion  of  the  great  body  politic.  If  that  day 
does  not  come,  democracy  will  prove  a  failure,  and  we 
do  not  believe  that  it  will  prove  a  failure. 

jWe  find  everywhere  that  this  social  instinct,  this 


UNITY  IN  SERVICE 


127 


instinct  of  brotherhood  and  of  co-operation,  is  related 
to  the  great  principles  of  human  life.  Jesus  Christ 
Himself  inaugurated  the  religious  associations  of  men 
and  women  which  we  see  after  all  these  years,  and  the 
people  were  taught  to  regard  the  organisation  as  of  less 
importance  than  the  great  principle  upon  which  it  was 
founded.  God  had  called  the  children  of  Israel  a  dis¬ 
tinct  people.  The  people  were  not  so  much  a  people 
because  of  their  complete  organisation  as  because  of  the 
great  underlying  principle  for  which  they  stood.  Israel 
was  not  strong  as  a  nation  because  of  her  wisdom  or 
greatness.  She  ofttimes  was  unknown  among  the 
nations  save  for  her  distinctive  characters,  such  men 
as  Daniel,  Shadrach,  Meshach  and  Abednego.  In  the 
hearts  of  these  young  men  there  was  a  fixed  principle, 
and  no  command  of  king  or  government  could  take 
from  them  that  great  distinctive  principle  of  righteous¬ 
ness.  We  find  in  Daniel’s  case  that  throughout  the 
reigns  of  four  kings  he  was  master  because  of  that 
principle.  But  when  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  organised 
that  which  has  developed  into  the  Christian  Church  of 
to-day,  we  find  He  started  with  a  few  men.  He  had  a 
very  small  organisation,  but  it  was  related  to  Him.  It 
was  not  because  Peter  loved  Andrew,  nor  because  John 
loved  James.  It  was  not  because  Matthew  was  pecu¬ 
liarly  fond  of  Mark,  John,  Peter  or  Thomas.  It  was 
because  these  men  had  centred  their  affection  and 
interest  in  the  Individual  Who  had  called  them  to  follow 
Him.  From  that  chosen  few — that  chosen  company — 
the  Church  of  Christ  grew.  I  think  it  is  unnecessary 
for  us  to  emphasise  further  the  necessity  and  value,  and 
the  expediency  of  unity.  Back  of  any  organisation  or 


128  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

co-operating  agency  there  must  be  a  great  fixed  pur¬ 
pose,  and  that  fixed  purpose  must  be  related,  not  only 
to  the  individual,  but  to  the  principle  which  that  indi¬ 
vidual  represents.  Or,  if  you  leave  the  individual  out, 
it  is  the  incarnate  principle  which  holds  and  sustains 
the  strength  of  the  organisation. 

Our  text  this  morning  is  related  to  a  very  interesting 
part  of  Israelitish  history.  Jerusalem  was  no  longer 
flourishing.  Artaxerxes,  the  great  King  of  Persia,  had 
control  over  a  vast  section  of  country  and  the  entire 
land  was  tributary  to  him.  Nehemiah  was  a  man  who 
had  risen  because  of  his  wisdom  and  his  efficiency.  He 
was  a  man  both  of  courage  and  purpose,  and  a  man 
with  courage  and  purpose  is  usually  a  man  of  efficiency 
and  insight  into  the  past  and  future.  When  Kipling 
wrote  “Lest  We  Forget”  he  touched  a  chord  not  only 
in  the  British  mind,  but  he  touched  a  chord  of  responsi¬ 
bility  in  all  minds  as  to  the  serious  purposes  and  duties 
of  life.  The  true  student  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  a 
man  who  looks  backward  and  looks  forward,  and  who 
has  individuality  of  purpose  and  concentration  of  aim ; 
one  who  realises  the  blessings  of  the  past  and  the  power 
of  the  future. 

This  Nehemiah  was  a  man  of  foresight  and  power. 
He  planned  the  campaign  carefully.  He  left  to  Divine 
Providence  that  which  every  man  should  leave  to 
Divine  Providence — those  elements  beyond  the  indi¬ 
vidual’s  control — instead  of  planning  his  entire  course 
and  then  thinking  that  God  should  co-operate  with  that 
course,  he  sought  divine  guidance. 

It  is  one  thing  to  say  in  your  prayer,  “Oh,  God, 
answer  my  prayer  in  helping  me  work  my  plan,”  and  it 


UNITY  IN  SERVICE 


129 


is  quite  another  thing  to  pray,  “Oh,  God,  teach  me  Thy 
will  that  I  may  plan  according  to  Thy  laws.”  Many  a 
man  prays,  ‘'Help  me  the  way  I  want  help,”  and  if  his 
prayer  is  not  answered  he  believes  that  God  does  not 
answer  prayer,  while  the  whole  spirit  of  Divine  Truth 
suggests  asking  God  for  divine  wisdom. 

Nehemiah  sought  that  wisdom.  He  was  the  king’s 
cup-bearer.  He  went  before  the  king.  The  king  saw 
that  he  was  saddened.  He  said,  “My  heart  aches  for 
Jerusalem.  The  walls  are  broken  down,  the  gates  are 
burned.  There  is  no  rejoicing  in  my  city,  the  city  of 
my  fathers.”  The  king  was  interested  and  gave  Nehe¬ 
miah  what  he  asked  for,  a  space  of  years  as  a  furlough 
that  he  might  go  to  his  own  land  and  work  out  his  own 
enterprise.  This  man  who  had  enriched  himself  with 
wisdom  and  elevated  himself  with  faithful  work  was 
bold  in  faith  and  request.  It  was  not  the  brazen  bold¬ 
ness  of  the  unworthy.  It  was  that  of  the  man  who  had 
a  bold  purpose  because  he  had  a  high  motive  in  his  soul. 
This  man  with  the  high  motive  expressed  to  the  king  his 
desire,  and  the  king  sent  him  back  to  Jerusalem. 

Now  when  he  went  back  he  found  a  great  need  of 
organisation,  and  perhaps  one  of  the  first  things  we 
need  to  recognise  is  that  the  great  power  of  unity  is  in 
this  same  proper  organisation.  The  Tribes  of  Israel 
were  organised  quickly.  Study  the  map  of  the  Holy 
Land,  and  you  will  see  that  this  man  worked  with 
great  unity  of  action,  as  well  as  a  clear  understanding 
of  the  people  in  his  organisation.  God  chose  leaders 
who  knew  how  to  organise.  Nehemiah  organised  his 
people.  Read  the  third  chapter  of  this  book  and«see 
how  well  they  were  organised.  This  book  of  thirteen 


130  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

chapters  is  a  book  we  all  ought  to  read.  How  many  of 
us  really  know  very  much  about  Nehemiah  ?  The  book 
is  a  classic.  Just  before  the  Old  Testament  loses  itself 
in  the  four  hundred  years  of  silence,  and  about  at  the 
time  Malachi  wrote,  this  book  of  Nehemiah  comes  in. 

You  will  find  in  the  third  chapter  that  in  the  renew¬ 
ing  of  every  part  of  the  wall,  the  twelve  tribes  and 
leaders  in  Israel  were  to  do  every  man  his  own  work  on 
his  own  part  of  the  wall.  Further,  there  was  not  only 
the  consciousness  of  the  need  of  organisation,  but  a 
realisation  that  organisation  was  not  enough.  We  need 
this  truth  to-day.  A  great  many  splendid  organisations 
have  utterly  failed  because  they  were  only  well-organ¬ 
ised.  This  man  knew  that  organisation  was  necessary, 
but  he  also  knew  that  no  organisation  would  carry  itself 
without  a  great  holy  distinctive  purpose  back  of  that 
organisation. 

Some  of  the  most  lifeless  things  to-day  are  the  most 
highly  organised,  but  the  difficulty  is  they  are  only 
organised.  Suppose  a  man  came  into  your  office  when 
you  were  the  financial  agent  for  a  great  institution,  and 
tried  enthusiastically  to  interest  you  in  certain  invest¬ 
ments  from  the  standpoint  of  their  organisation,  repre¬ 
senting  to  you  that  they  were  of  the  most  perfect  and 
complete  organisation?  Would  you  take  this  invest¬ 
ment  because  he  had  a  splendid  organization  ?  I  rather 
think  you  would  say  something  to  him  about  security ! 
I  think  you  would  say  something  to  him  about  that 
which  stood  back  of  his  organisation.  You  would 
never  think  of  taking  stock  in  any  work  simply  on 
account  of  its  organisation. 

Now  Nehemiah  realised  that  there  was  something 


UNITY  IN  SERVICE 


131 


more  than  organisation  needed,  so  he  showed  them  how 
to  serve  and  work  and  guard  against  their  enemies  at 
the  same  time.  There  are  those  in  the  world  who 
actually  disregard  the  enemy.  They  say,  “Simply  go 
ahead  and  do  your  work  and  build  your  part  of  the  wall 
and  all  will  be  well.”  But  as  long  as  there  is  human 
life  and  right  effort  there  will  also  be  enemies.  There 
is  no  character-filled  man  who  has  not  had  them;  no 
man  of  fidelity  and  force  who  will  not  have  them,  if 
his  work  amounts  to  anything.  But  why  be  afraid  of 
them  ?  Be  bold,  be  wise.  Stand  out  with  organisation 
and  face  your  enemy,  but  be  stronger  than  he  is,  stand¬ 
ing  boldly  and  fearlessly  for  the  principle  and  the  work 
in  which  you  believe.  If  your  cause  is  right  and  just, 
and  if  you  are  Christian  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  purpose 
(and  that  means  much),  you  will  find  that  your  ene¬ 
mies  will  be  relatively  few,  and  you  will  find  that  those 
who  are  superficial  in  their  opposition  will  disappear. 

This  man  had  enemies  and  he  knew  well  enough  that 
the  people  would  fail  unless  organised  to  meet  the 
enemy. 

Now  I  am  not  here  to  controvert  in  any  way,  neither 
do  I  think  the  pulpit  the  place  to  discuss  the  questions  of 
the  day  and  hour  which  are  not  related  to  the  great 
principles  of  spiritual  life,  but  I  want  to  say  that  there 
is  one  principle  which  is  related  to  all  the  people,  and 
related  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  you  and  I  must 
realise  that  God  calls  upon  us  to  defend  the  weak  and 
protect  enterprises  and  principles  which  are  His. 

Just  a  single  illustration  of  what  I  mean.  One  of 
the  most  extreme  pacifists  I  have  ever  heard  (and 
personally  I  believe  that  in  all  great  questions  there  is  a 


132  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

golden  mean  that  should  be  followed  rather  than  the 
extreme  position),  a  man  who  practically  said  that 
there  could  be  no  case  where  any  individual  or  nation 
should  ever  retaliate  or  offer  defence,  but  should  always 
“turn  the  other  cheek,”  stepped  out  from  giving  an 
address  of  that  sort  and  administered  the  most  severe 
rebuke  in  anger  to  one  who  had  overlooked  a  slight 
matter  of  duty.  I  mention  the  incident  by  way  of 
illustration,  for  it  is  not  fair  to  make  use  of  an  incident 
as  argument.  The  man  who  did  it  utterly  disregarded 
and  misunderstood  the  principle,  and  was  entirely  un¬ 
conscious  of  it. 

What  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  said  about  “turning  the 
other  cheek”  referred  to  the  individual  attitude  of  the 
man  in  his  own  heart  toward  a  brother  man.  It  did  not 
refer  to  the  protection  of  the  weak,  nor  to  the  disregard 
of  those  who  are  under  our  care. 

Is  there  a  parent  in  all  this  land  who  would  allow  his 
child  to  step  out  on  to  the  streets  of  this  great  city  of 
Chicago,  and  let  that  child  suffer  personal  wrong  at  the 
hands  of  some  wicked  man,  because  he  interpreted  the 
New  Testament  as  telling  him  that  he  should  not  pro¬ 
tect  against  such  a  wrong?  What  is  the  child’s  father 
for  ?  What  is  the  state  for  ? 

Now  mark  you,  as  long  as  sin  is  in  this  world  of  ours 
and  as  long  as  sin  rules  in  the  life  of  man  or  nation, 
there  will  be  warfare,  for  sin  means  warfare.  In  so  far 
as  righteousness  protects  itself  and  others,  it  stands  for 
principle  and  stands  for  right,  and  in  so  far  as  it  is 
God-born. 

Do  you  suppose  that  you  and  I  have  any  right  to  say 
that  our  heroic  ancestors  who  died  to  protect  the  great 


UNITY  IN  SERVICE 


133 


principle  that  “taxation  without  representation”  was 
wrong,  that  God  did  not  lead  them,  and  that  they  were 
not  righteous  and  just? 

Let  us  be  sane  and  sensible  about  this  thing,  and  let 
us  realise  that  peace  can  only  exist  where  right  exists. 
There  is  something  worse  than  war,  and  that  is  sin,  and 
as  long  as  sin  exists  war  will  result.  When  this  world 
is  Christ-like,  the  world  will  be  at  peace,  and  not  until 
then.  When  sin  rules  in  the  lives  of  men,  sin  will  fight 
against  right,  and  the  way  to  defend  against  war  is  to 
slay  sin. 

Men  and  women,  let  us  put  this  correctly  before  us. 
We  stand  to-day  for  Him.  Let  us  make  our  organisa¬ 
tion  strong  in  service  and  living  works.  Let  us  realise 
that  as  we  build  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  our  swords  are 
to  be  at  our  sides,  with  one  hand  to  build  and  construct, 
and  with  the  other  hand  to  guard  and  keep  that  which 
is  sacred  and  right,  and  God's  sword  is  the  “Sword  of 
the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God.”  Men  will  fight 
against  it.  They  always  have  and  they  always  will. 
Let  us  remember  that  Nehemiah,  in  his  co-operative 
leadership,  was  a  man  who  thrilled  these  people  with 
the  thought  of  protective  service  for  the  sake  of  con¬ 
structive  enterprise.  Never  warfare  for  the  sake  of 
warfare,  but  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  must  be  built.  The 
timbers  that  come  from  the  mountains,  from  the  great 
trees  which  have  grown  year  by  year  until  their  splen¬ 
did  trunks  reach  up  towards  the  starry  heavens,  must  be 
made  fit  for  the  purpose.  They  must  be  squared  and 
hewn  into  form  for  the  great  doors  and  gates  that  are 
to  make  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  secure. 

But  mark  you,  those  gates  could  not  be  put  together 


134  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

and  the  walls  reconstructed  without  opposition.  There 
wrere  others  without,  ready  to  break  down  those  gates 
and  prevent  the  children  of  Israel  from  carrying  on  the 
reconstruction.  There  are  always  enemies. 

Can  we  say  that  in  a  city  like  ours  there  is  no  sin; 
no  place  for  contention  and  warfare,  when  over 
twelve  million  dollars  in  a  single  year  came  into  the 
treasury  of  wicked  men  and  women  because  of  com¬ 
mercialised  vice?  When  the  sin  of  this  city  can  so 
protect  and  surround  itself  that  men  are  forced  to 
admit  such  facts;  when  statistics  are  taken  we  realize 
great  wrongs  that  menace  the  lives  of  our  boys  and 
girls,  our  sons  and  daughters,  because  men  are  willing 
to  ruin  their  lives,  have  we  not  the  duty  to  fight?  Is 
there  not  a  time  when  these  men  become  the  enemies  of 
God  and  when,  as  Nehemiah  did,  we  must  labor  with 
our  hands  and  work  with  the  sword  at  our  side?  You 
call  it  the  work  of  police.  Well,  call  it  what  you  may, 
it  means  opposition. 

You  will  notice  another  great  characteristic  of  this 
scheme  of  co-operation,  namely,  that  the  one  who 
sounded  the  bugle  stood  by  his  side  and  was  with 
Nehemiah.  “We  are  separated  and  the  work  is  large.’’ 
They  had  to  be  separated,  but  when  they  heard  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet  they  came  nigh  and  worked 
together . 

There  is  a  great  truth  here  which  we  must  not  over¬ 
look,  The  Church  is  a  union  for  worship  in  the  house 
of  Almighty  God.  Sometimes  men,  in  the  heat  of 
discussion  or  the  carelessness  of  self-excuse,  say, 
“What  is  the  use  of  attending  divine  worship?”  What 
is  the  use  ?  Suppose  the  children  of  your  home  grew  up 


UNITY  IN  SERVICE 


135 


without  church  attendance  and  church  interest?  Sup¬ 
pose  your  children  see  no  interest  on  your  part  ?  Sup¬ 
pose  they  become  imbued  with  the  idea,  as  some  say, 
that  “Sunday  is  a  day  for  rest  and  recreation,”  and  sup¬ 
pose  you  absent  yourself  regularly  from  the  House  of 
God,  and  let  any  pleasure,  no  matter  how  trivial,  sepa¬ 
rate  you  from  attendance  at  divine  worship?  You  can 
stand  it,  you  say.  You  may  have  had  an  early  training 
which  you  have  disregarded.  But  what  about  your 
children?  Let  thirty  years  go  by,  and  think  of  sixty 
years,  and  your  children’s  children.  What  about  the 
grandchildren?  What  religious  principles  will  they 
have  within  their  souls?  I  think  of  the  father  who 
stood  before  his  pastor  and  said,  “I  have  never  been 
interested  in  those  things.”  Sometimes  he  says:  “As 
a  child  I  had  too  much  of  it.”  I  don’t  believe  that.  I 
would  not  have  that  which  is  mine  to-day,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  faithfulness  and  guardianship  which  led 
and  kept  me  where  I  ought  to  be  when  I  did  not  want 
to  be  where  I  was.  What  of  your  children’s  children 
who  are  facing,  or  will  face,  the  serious  problems  of 
life,  and  the  reality  of  divine  things  if  they  know  noth¬ 
ing  about  assembling  themselves  together  on  God's  day 
in  God's  house?  There  is  a  basic  principle  here. 

Men  are  selfish  and  self-interested,  and  that  is  the 
curse  to-day.  It  is  not  so  much  agnosticism  or  infi¬ 
delity  as  it  is  selfishness. 

How  well  I  remember  an  old  college  professor  who 
used  to  say,  “Young  men,  when  you  spell  sin  s-i-n, 
you  are  wrong;  you  should  spell  sin  s-e-l-f,”  and  I 
think  he  was  right.  The  sin  of  to-day  is  selfishness. 
You  say,  “I  want  to  spend  my  time  on  the  golf  links,” 


136  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

or  “I  want  to  spend  my  time  as  I  choose.”  I  am  not 
condemning  the  golf  links;  I  am  not  condemning  your 
own  wishes.  You  can  walk  with  your  children  on 
Sunday,  as  on  any  other  day,  and  would  to  God  more 
fathers  took  the  time  to  do  that,  instead  of  doing  other 
things,  but,  what  I  want  to  say  is,  that  the  great  prin¬ 
ciple  at  stake  is  that  of  your  allowing  yourselves  to  do 
the  things  which  take  you  from  the  House  of  God,  and 
from  the  worship  of  God’s  Holy  Name  on  His  day,  and 
the  influence  of  this  upon  your  children. 

What  are  your  grandchildren  going  to  do  if  they 
know  nothing  of  these  things  from  their  parents?  It 
is  not  so  much  what  men  do,  but  what  God  does  in 
men ,  when  they  assemble  themselves  together  to  honour 
and  worship  Him.  We  face  it  all  in  one  sentence.  Are 
we  building  the  walls  of  Jerusalem?  “The  work  is 
great,  and  we  are  separated.” 


XIII 


THE  HUMILITY  OF  THE  SOUL 

“He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.” 

— Luke  18:14. 

Our  text  is  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of 
Luke,  the  fourteenth  verse : 

“For  every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  hum¬ 
bled,  but  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.” 
“He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.” 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  sentences  which  St. 
Augustine  ever  used  touches  the  very  centre  of  our 
thought  this  morning:  The  Humility  of  the  Soul.  St. 
Augustine  said:  “The  sufficiency  of  my  merit  is  to 
know  that  my  merit  is  not  sufficient.”  It  touches  di¬ 
rectly  the  thought  before  us :  The  Humility  of  the  Soul.. 
“He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.” 

Now  there  is  a  very  marked  false  humility  which  is 
seen  in  humanity  at  times.  The  human  element  of 
thought  is  such  that  when  it  centres  upon  itself  it  be¬ 
comes  extremely  introspective,  and  ofttimes  destroys 
its  own  purpose.  There  is  a  humility  which  utterly 
fails  to  be  humble  because  it  is  self-conscious  and 
becomes  self-advertised.  It  is  abhorent  when  we  see  it 
in  the  vivid  picturing  of  Charles  Dickens  who  paints 
for  us  the  despicable  character  of  Uriah  Heep,  an 
extreme  of  this  type.  He  wishes  to  impress  his  charac¬ 
ters  and  what  they  represent  upon  the  mind,  and  that 

137 


138  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

is  why  they  are  so  extreme.  That  is  why  they  are 
Dickens’  characters.  They  were  meant  to  be  extreme. 

That  very  character,  despicable  as  he  is,  is  an  empha¬ 
sis,  an  underscoring  of  the  very  thing  which  we  would 
use  in  preface  this  morning.  Do  not  mistake  for  hu¬ 
mility  that  which  pretends  to  be  humility,  for  it  then 
and  there  ceases  to  be  humility.  Do  not  practise  ex¬ 
cessive  humility.  One  of  our  simplest  writers  of  olden 
time  was  John  Todd.  Those  who  read  John  Todd 
were  sensible,  even  if  they  were  extreme;  and  even 
if  sometimes  they  leaned  backwards  in  their  righteous¬ 
ness,  when  they  stooped  they  stooped  in  true  humility. 
With  his  blunt  frankness — which,  as  some  have  said, 
was  useful  even  in  his  day — John  Todd  said,  as  he 
shook  his  very  fist  in  the  faces  of  men  who  pretended 
to  be  religious:  “Do  not  practice  excessive  humility. 
If  you  do,  you  will  destroy  your  power  to  be  humble.” 

We  do  not  this  morning  wish  to  interpret  the  words 
of  our  Saviour  in  words  of  professionalism.  They 
cease  to  be  real  when  they  are  lowered  to  a  mere  pro¬ 
fessionalism.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  danger  of 
allowing  professionalism,  in  our  fear  lest  it  become 
self-advertised,  to  rob  us  of  the  genuine  expression 
of  our  own  manly  selves  and  the  showing  of  our  real 
selves.  There  are  people  who  err  in  this  very  interpre¬ 
tation  of  a  great  and  serious  truth.  They  fail  to  gain 
the  blessing  of  a  life  of  true  humility  because  they  are 
afraid  that  other  people  will  think  that  they  are  aiming 
to  be  humble.  They  fail  to  gain  the  blessing  of  a 
spiritual  life  because  they  constantly  fear  that  people 
will  think  they  are  hypocrites  in  aiming  to  show  as 
their  own  that  which  they  do  not  actually  possess. 


THE  HUMILITY  OF  THE  SOUL  139 


And  just  here  we  ought  to  realise  that  we  err  just 
as  much  if  we  fail  to  give  expression  to  that  which  we 
really  are,  as  if  we  pretend  to  be  that  which  we  really 
are  not.  In  other  words,  if  we  are  not  true  to  our  best 
selves,  we  fail  to  give  genuine  and  true  expression  to 
that  which  we  really  are.  Again  if  we  fear  that  some 
people  will  think  that  we  are  trying  to  be  that  which  we 
really  are  not,  we  err  just  as  much  as  though  we  pre¬ 
tend  to  have  that  which  we  actually  do  not  possess. 
There  is  that  in  the  human  heart  which  causes  man  to 
err  in  his  fear  of  over-professionalism,  so  that  he  does 
not  give  himself  heartily  to  that  which  he  really  en¬ 
dorses  and  that  which  he  really  believes. 

The  genuine  humble  life  is  the  life  that  exercises 
humility  without  defining  its  terms,  without  advertising 
itself,  without  saying:  “I  am  humbler  than  thou”; 
without  saying  (in  religious  phraseology)  either  in  look 
or  in  word :  “I  am  holier  than  thou,”  Holy  people  do 
not  have  to  be  self-advertised,  and  holy  people  who 
advertise  themselves  as  holy  cease  to  be  holy.  The 
life  that  is  real;  the  life  that  rings  with  sincerity;  the 
life  that  is  known  by  that  which  it  really  is — such  a  life 
is  understood  by  the  age  in  which  it  lives  as  true  and 
humble. 

And  still,  why  should  we  not  wear  the  uniform  that 
identifies  the  spiritual  nature?  True,  the  uniform  is 
not  always  necessary.  In  citizens’  clothes  soldiers  may 
live  and  work  when  not  engaged  in  the  strife  of  arms, 
but  in  the  day  of  struggle  the  uniform  is  there!  The 
uniform  is  worn  at  its  proper  and  right  time.  But 
there  is  that  which  stamps  the  individual  no  matter 
what  his  cloak  or  what  his  clothing  may  be,  even  in 


140  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

time  of  freedom  from  warfare.  He  may  not  be  able 
to  stand  as  erect  as  he  stood  upon  the  battlefield  or  upon 
the  drill-room  floor.  He  may  be  lowered  in  illness ;  he 
may  be  crippled  by  accident;  he  may  be  overcome  by 
physical  limitation,  but  people  turn  to  him  and  speak  to 
him  in  his  official  rank  with  honour  and  with  pride,  not 
because  he  is  crippled  and  out  of  form,  but  because  his 
real  self  is  the  leader,  is  the  captain,  is  the  general! 
He  is  known  by  what  he  is  and  what  he  has  been,  and 
his  life  has  stood  the  test  in  time  of  demand. 

You  and  I  may  be  subject  to  conditions  which  are 
entirely  separate  from  the  ordinary  forms  of  religious 
worship.  There  are  tens  of  thousands  of  youth  to-day 
who  cannot  go  inside  of  a  church,  whose  hearts  are 
there.  There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and 
women  whose  very  churches  have  been  destroyed,  and 
who,  if  they  worship  God,  are  worshipping  God  under 
the  great  canopy  of  heaven,  and  in  that  sanctuary 
which  is  the  great  outdoors,  but  their  hearts  are  crying 
out  to  God  and  their  hearts  are  worshipping.  War  has 
robbed  them  of  the  outward  sanctuary. 

How  different  such  a  life  and  such  a  purpose  from 
the  life  of  the  one  who  in  the  happiness  and  blessing  of 
Christian  surroundings  is  entirely  neglectful  of  his 
privilege  and  opportunity!  He  walks  by  a  score  of 
churches,  perchance,  in  a  month’s  time  without  thinking 
of  God,  without  knowing  anything  in  his  soul  of  the 
worship  of  God. 

Now  it  is  not  our  purpose  this  morning  to  compare 
the  uneventful  life  of  the  unbeliever  with  the  eventful 
life  of  the  believer.  More  and  more  the  uneventful  life 
of  the  unbeliever  grows  into  a  mere  commonplace  which 


THE  HUMILITY  OF  THE  SOUL  141 


soon  disintegrates  into  a  nebulous  condition  in  which 
the  human  heart  has  no  power  to  reinstate  itself  in 
vital  religious  thinking.  The  sad  state  of  the  non¬ 
religious  mind  is,  that  instead  of  becoming  like  the 
great  systems  of  the  starry  heavens,  more  and  more 
transforming  their  nebulous  condition  into  a  perfect 
centre  and  system  he  grows  more  chaotic  in  his  think¬ 
ing  and  opinions.  The  mind  that  is  unassociated 
with  God,  the  uneventful  life  of  the  unbeliever,  be¬ 
comes  more  and  more  nebulous,  until  at  last  the  man 
in  his  sixties  or  seventies,  or  sometimes  before  that, 
says :  “There  is  nothing  in  spiritual  interpretations  for 
me.  I  have  no  pleasure  in  them.” 

It  is  not  our  desire  to  trace  this  morning  the  develop¬ 
ment  from  or  to  the  great  heart  of  God,  as  revealed 
in  Christ,  but  simply  to  allude  to  it,  to  show  that  the 
humble  mind  is  the  mind  that  first  of  all  has  the  power 
to  know  God. 

The  man  who  is  really  ignorant  is  the  man  who  feels 
himself  so  sufficiently  intelligent  that  he  does  not  need 
mental  training.  You  find  him  everywhere.  “I  do 
not  need  to  think  or  study.  I  know  what  I  know.  I 
understand  the  associations  of  life.”  In  the  commercial 
world  he  ceases  to  be  a  force. 

Take  for  instance  a  man  who  is  compelled,  because 
of  the  need  of  the  great  energies  of  leadership,  to 
resort  to  times  of  privacy  in  his  own  business  or  pro¬ 
fessional  life,  to  shield  his  hours  of  thought  or  study. 
He  must  be  accessible  at  the  right  time,  and  save 
himself  for  administrative  power  instead  of  mere  exec¬ 
utive  power.  He  realises  that  a  man  ceases  to  be  a 
force  in  the  community  when  he  is  not  producing  new 


142  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

thought  as  the  result  of  his  own  enterprise  of  thought 
and  his  own  personal  product  in  mental  leadership. 
And  you  will  find  before  great  groups,  whether  finan¬ 
cial  bodies,  economic  associations,  national  committees, 
or  bodies  engaged  in  handling  international  issues, 
that  the  man  who  is  constantly  producing  as  the  re¬ 
sult  of  his  own  mental  training  and  power  is  essential 
to  leadership !  He  ceases  to  be  a  power  when  he 
lives  upon  his  reputation.  He  must  constantly  be  doing 
the  necessary  thing  in  a  constructive  way.  The  greater 
his  mental  power,  the  more  he  will  exercise  power. 

Now  that  man’s  power  is  not  simply  in  his  ability  to 
produce,  but  in  the  consciousness  that  his  experience 
and  ability  have  led  him  to  the  place  where  he  knows 
the  necessity  of  clear  understanding.  He  thinks  more 
constructively  and  consecutively  into  the  things  which 
are  to  be  done.  Hence  he  is  a  man  of  intelligent  force. 
Not  so  the  commonplace  makeshift,  leading  a  life  that 
goes  around  in  a  little  circle.  He  will  say:  “What  is 
the  use  of  studying?  I  know  it  all.  I  have  learned  it. 
I  understand  it.  Do  I  not  influence  my  clerks  and  lead 
others?”  Yes,  but  he  has  gone  as  high  as  he  ever  will 
go,  and  he  probably  will  begin  to  go  lower,  for  there  is 
no  standing  still.  He  must  either  go  higher  or  lower. 

It  takes  the  man  who  sees  the  insufficiency  of  his 
knowledge,  who  recognises  his  inability  and  his  limita¬ 
tions,  and  endeavours  to  increase  his  knowledge  and  his 
ability.  Go  back  to  the  sentence  of  St.  Augustine,  “The 
sufficiency  of  my  merit  is  to  know  that  my  merit  is  not 
sufficient.”  Hence  a  man  is  really  a  scholar  and  a 
student  (and  there  is  a  difference  in  the  words),  if  he 
recognises  increasingly  the  insufficiency  of  his  own 


THE  HUMILITY  OF  THE  SOUL  143 


merit  and  desires  to  acquire  greater  merit,  and  works 
to  give  the  influence  of  that  merit  to  others. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  righteousness.  When  you 
think  you  are  righteous,  you  are  not  righteous.  When 
we  think  we  have  been  acquiring  in  righteousness 
when  we  have  not,  we  begin  to  recognise  the  fact  that 
we  are  retrograding  instead  of  advancing. 

Do  I  then  always  bow  in  humility  before  every  fel¬ 
low-man  and  say  I  am  nothing?  Do  I  go  back  to  the 
phraseology  of  the  old  time  hymnology  and  sing  that  I 
am  a  worm  and  worthless  and  grovelling  on  the  earth? 
Not  at  all.  That  was  a  genuine  expression,  but  it  was 
a  misconception.  We  do  not  desire  to  criticise  it  in  an 
unwholesome  or  unkindly  spirit.  It  grew  out  of  a 
condition  of  thought  that  existed. 

God  does  not  desire  us  to  grovel  on  the  earth  and 
crawl  before  men  as  those  who  were  worms,  and  say: 
“There  is  no  chance  for  us  because  sin  has  depleted 
our  lives  and  ruined  our  possibilities  and  we  have  no 
place  nor  home.” 

Sin  has  been  and  is  in  every  life;  sin  has  been  and  is 
in  every  nation,  and  sin  is  the  great  vital  reality  that 
saps  the  life  blood,  that  eats  away  the  vitals  of  life. 
Such  is  sin.  But  sin  is  to  be  faced  by  manly  courage, 
and  sin  is  to  be  faced  by  an  open  frankness,  and  that 
force  is  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  that  frankness  is  the 
message  of  the  One  who  lived  and  said:  “He  that 
humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.” 

Peter  drew  his  sword  and  smote  off  the  ear  of  the 
one  who  would  take  the  Saviour  captive,  but  Christ 
said:  “Put  up  the  sword  into  the  sheath.”  But  this 
same  Saviour  who  would  not  use  nor  permit  to  be 


144  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

used  this  physical  means  for  saving  Him  from  being 
taken  captive,  had  the  physical  courage  as  well  as 
the  moral  courage,  to  let  them  nail  His  hands  and  feet 
to  the  cross ;  to  let  them  press  that  crown  of  thorns 
down  upon  His  head  until  the  blood  dropped  down 
upon  his  face,  and  He  it  was  Who  suffered  the  agony 
of  the  cross. 

Sin  is  to  be  faced  by  the  great  moral  standard  which 
is  born  of  the  Saviour  who  says:  “Humble  thyself 
before  God.” 

Now  we  must  briefly  sum  up  this  truth  in  an 
emphasis  which  may  mean  eternal  life  to  us  all. 
Moments  come  and  go  quickly.  A  few  hours,  a  few 
days,  a  few  weeks,  a  few  years,  and  we  will  be  in  the 
great  hereafter  of  life.  The  hereafter-life  means  for 
us  eternity.  Immortality  is  born  in  us.  We  are  born 
into  great  truths  suddenly;  we  develop  those  great 
truths  as  the  years  progress.  They  have  their  infinite 
development  in  what  Christ  calls  Eternity.  Such  is  the 
immortality  of  the  soul. 

What  then  is  this  great  truth  that  is  ours,  which  we 
must  grasp  at  this  time  ?  That  great  preacher,  Flavel, 
said :  “They  that  know  God  will  be  humble ;  they  that 
know  themselves  cannot  be  proud.”  “I  believe,”  said 
Ruskin,  “that  the  first  test  of  a  truly  great  man  is  his 
humility.”  In  that  one  sentence:  “They  that  know 
God  will  be  humble ;  they  that  know  themselves  cannot 
be  proud — ”  there  is  the  relationship  of  your  own 
heart  to  God;  the  relationship  of  your  life  to  your 
fellowmen — humility  toward  God,  serving  God  in 
serving  humanity.  The  great  truth  growing  out  of  this 


THE  HUMILITY  OF  THE  SOUL  145 


may  be  ours  to-day.  It  is  this :  “Man  believeth  unto 
righteousness  with  the  heart,”  and  serve  with  the  life. 

Three  weeks  ago  Sunday  evening  we  took  up  this 
subject  and  it  came  with  newness  of  life  and  'force  to 
us  all.  It  is  our  concluding  thought  this  morning: 
“With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness.” 
Such  is  the  expression  of  the  humble  life.  The  life 
that  believes  has  love  at  its  centre,  and  that  love 
dominates  day  by  day.  Are  you  too  proud  to  admit 
it?  Be  careful!  Mental  pride  has  kept  many  a  man 
from  heart-power.  You  say  with  the  sophists  of  old 
who  with  their  logic  and  keenness  of  intellect  paved 
the  way  for  the  philosophers  of  their  time,  and  for 
the  philosophies  of  modern  philosophers —  “Let  me, 
with  intellect  and  thought  mark  out  the  way  which 
will  lead  to  the  only  true  course  of  life  which  I  can 
follow  intelligently.”  But  remember  that  the  great 
God  says :  “With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  right¬ 
eousness.” 

Show  me  the  book  of  etiquette  that  can  show  men 
and  women  how  to  fall  in  love ;  that  can  show  men  and 
women  whom  to  choose  as  the  personalities  with  whom 
they  would  link  their  lives  throughout  this  life;  a 
standard  of  selection  which  will  make  “The  Cotter's 
Saturday  Night”  possible.  Show  me  any  text  book  of 
mental  science  that  can  give  to  you  and  to  me  that  train¬ 
ing  of  the  mind  that  will  make  a  father  so  close  to  a  son 
as  to  lead  that  son  from  wayward  paths  by  intel¬ 
lectual  force  and  power.  Show  me  a  single  standard  of 
logic  or  rhetoric  which  trains  this  human  mind  of  ours, 
not  only  to  know  sin,  but  to  overcome  sin  because  of 
its  knowledge  of  sin.  Some  of  the  most  intellectual 


146  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

nations  of  the  world  have  been  lost  in  the  oblivion  of 
wickedness,  and  oblivion  and  wickedness  go  together. 
The  nation  that  could  create  most  remarkable  art, 
the  nation  that  gave  standardisation  of  force  as  no 
other  nation,  that  built  the  great  highways  which  are 
great  arteries  of  transportation  in  Europe  even  to 
this  day,  those  nations  with  art  and  force  went  down 
in  moral  decay  to  such  an  extent  that  your  child  and 
mine,  in  many  an  instance,  must  use  expurgated 
editions  of  their  literature. 

Knowledge  sufficient!  No,  knowledge  was  not  suffi¬ 
cient,  because  knowledge  standardised  merely  on  the 
basis  of  logical  and  rational  interpretation  was  not  related 
to  the  great  divine  meaning  of  life  and  righteousness. 

“With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness.” 
And,  my  friends,  there  is  a  relation  here.  “He  that 
humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.”  Did  we  not  read 
this  morning  that  except  as  we  become  as  little  children 
we  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven?  Do 
you  believe  it?  The  world  says  to-day  exactly  the 
same  as  it  said  in  Christ’s  day:  “Push  the  children 
away.  This  is  a  man’s  day,  and  a  woman’s  day.  This 
is  the  time  and  opportunity  for  adult  minds  and  adult 
reasoning  to  solve  life’s  problems.”  But  the  Saviour 
said :  “Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me.”  Oh, 
can  you  see  that  picture  now,  when  the  dear  Saviour  of 
mankind  puts  His  hand  upon  the  head  of  a  little  child 
and  looks  into  the  face  of  that  little  six-year-old !  Ah, 
there  is  love  and  there  is  response  there !  And  the 
Saviour  said :  “Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom 
of  God.” 


THE  HUMILITY  OF  THE  SOUL  147 


My  friends,  if  we  want  to  know  God,  we  must 
believe  with  our  hearts .  We  must  become  as  little 
children.  Stop  in  the  pride  of  your  intellect  which 
says :  “Solve  for  me  every  problem  before  I  admit 
Christ  as  my  Saviour,”  and  repeat:  “Except  ye  be 
converted,”  and  change  the  pride  of  your  life  to  that 
of  true  humility  or  you  cannot  know  God.  But  if  we 
will  stand  with  those  little  children  and  look  into  the 
face  of  the  Saviour,  we,  too,  will  find  our  place  and  our 
opportunity.  We  will  admit  and  confess  the  Saviour, 
not  by  an  intellectual  standard,  but  by  consecrating  our 
intellectuality  and  our  minds  and  our  hearts  to  the 
Saviour  of  men.  We  will  know  the  humility  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  And  the  prophesy  of  the  hour  will 
be,  “He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.” 


XIV 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  SIN 

“And  when  He  is  come,  He  will  reprove  the  world 
of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment;  of 
sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  Me.” — John  16:8,9. 

There  has  always  been  in  the  world  a  difference  of 
view  as  to  the  meaning  of  sin,  the  consequence  of  sin, 
and  the  tremendous  importance  of  sin.  There  can  be 
no  vital  religion  without  a  belief  in  and  a  consciousness 
of  the  immensity  of  sin.  There  may  be  a  philosophy  of 
religion ;  there  never  can  be  a  religion.  Sin,  the  great 
controlling  force  of  the  human  heart,  must  be  realised, 
for  sin’s  need  brought  a  Saviour  into  the  world. 

The  standard  of  our  Christian  faith  is  not  based 
upon  the  conception  of  an  ideal,  but  on  the  reality  of  a 
great  fact.  It  is  not  the  Christmas  Season  heralded  by 
the  Christmas  bell  and  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  but  the 
solemn  consciousness  of  the  Cross ; 

“There  was  a  green  hill  far  away, 

Without  the  city  wall, 

Where  the  dear  Lord  was  crucified, 

Who  died  to  save  us  all.” 

This  is  the  great  central  truth  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Without  it  men  cannot  claim  His  Deity; 
without  it,  He  was  simply  a  beautiful  life  in  a  world 
that  needed  an  example. 


148 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  SIN  149 

The  Christian’s  faith  then  centres  around  the  Cross. 
The  Cross  has  no  meaning  without  the  need  of  it.  Men 
do  not  die  voluntarily  because  they  love  to  die.  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  who  saved  others,  and  to  whom  that 
great  slur  was  uttered,  “Himself  He  cannot  save!” 
did  not  die  to  be  a  great  picture  in  history,  nor  to  be 
the  great  catastrophe  of  the  ages — not  at  all.  He  died 
to  save  men  from  their  sins.  “Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.”  He  was 
heralded  with  those  great  words — “Thou  shalt  call  His 
name  Jesus,  for  He  shall  save  His  people  from  their 

•  j  y 

sms. 

The  central  truth  of  the  Christian  faith,  irrespective 
of  creed,  irrespective  of  what  we  term  denomination,  is 
that  figure  of  the  Cross  on  which  the  Saviour  of  men 
died. 

The  need  of  salvation  brings  us  to  the  consciousness 
of  sin;  the  realisation  of  His  place. 

The  age  is  suffering  from  the  lack  of  strong  truth. 
Do  you  think  it  is  an  easy  religion  that  you  want  ?  Do 
you  think  it  is  a  complacent  satisfaction  of  the  soul 
that  rests  you  when  you  put  your  head  upon  the  pillow 
at  night,  and  comforts  without  a  struggle  against  the 
forces  of  wrong?  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
never  been  a  complacent  religion.  It  has  never  been  a 
compromising  religion,  saying,  “Never  mind  if  you  do 
this,  or  never  mind  if  you  do  that;  it  is  all  right,  the 
Lord  is  merciful;  His  name  is  Love,  nothing  else.” 
No!  No!  The  religion  which  is  a  human-made  inter¬ 
pretation  will  starve  as  it  seeks  to  nourish  itself. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  strong  and  vital  and 
sure.  It  means  contest ;  it  means  a  victory  which  never 


150  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

is  gained  save  as  a  soul  struggles  to  attain.  It  puts  that 
iron  into  the  blood  which  makes  strength;  it  gives 
grey-matter  to  the  brain ;  it  gives  to  the  soul  that  great 
strength  which  comes  in  the  consciousness  that  it  has 
conquered. 

But  sin,  after  all,  seems  very  victorious  in  our  day 
as  it  has  in  all  generations.  You  ask  what  is  the  sin 
that  will  always  separate  me  from  God?  I  do  not 
know,  save  as  the  Scripture  makes  it  evident  that  there 
is  a  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  investigation  of 
it  has  driven  more  men  and  women  to  crazed  minds 
than  any  other  religious  truth,  but  it  is  evident  in 
Scripture  that  the  sin  that  you  and  I  must  fear  is  the 
sin  of  unbelief.  Remember  the  text — “And  when  He 
is  come,  He  will  convict  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  right¬ 
eousness,  and  of  judgment  (of  sin),  because  they  be¬ 
lieve  not  on  Me.” 

But  you  cannot  arbitrarily  force  a  man  to  believe. 
No,  of  course  you  cannot.  But  suppose  you  have  not 
given  your  own  soul  the  opportunity  of  belief.  Sup¬ 
pose  you  have  deceived  your  own  inclination  by  saying, 
I  will  fight  against  the  thing  which  I  cannot  argue 
through,  and  the  conclusion  which  I  cannot  fully  under¬ 
stand.  There  never  has  been  an  invention  worth  its 
name  that  was  not  filled  with  doubt,  unbelief  and  dis¬ 
belief.  In  life  we  search  and  investigate  and  experi¬ 
ment.  Have  we  any  idea  of  experimental  religion  in 
our  faith? 

There  is  not  a  great  saving  truth  in  the  medical 
world  to-day  that  has  not  been  the  result  of  careful  and 
searching  investigation.  Sometimes  by  a  mere  accident 
men  have  fallen  upon  a  circumstance  or  condition  which 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  SIN  151 

has  helped  reveal  a  truth,  and  belief  has  carried  it 
through. 

Belief,  confidence,  is  not  the  result  of  astounding 
facts  presented  to  the  world,  but  the  result  of  experi¬ 
ence — experimenting  and  believing  have  resulted. 

Have  you  given  your  conscience  a  chance  ?  The  sad¬ 
ness  of  all  this  in  our  age  is  that  so  many  people  do  not 
care.  So  many  youths,  trained  splendidly  in  intellect, 
backed  by  the  inheritance  of  godly  generations,  are 
totally  indifferent  to  this  whole  question.  They  laugh 
(they  do  not  sneer)  in  the  listlessness  of  the  moment 
and  say,  “What’s  the  use?’’  for  their  real  interest  is  in 
the  things  of  the  hour,  of  the  day;  the  opportunities 
of  life  instead  of  the  purposes  of  life;  the  pleasures  of 
life  instead  of  the  responsibilities  of  life.  And  if  we 
are  older,  we  excuse  them  by  saying,  “they  are  young; 
they  will  come  to  the  experience  in  time.”  Yes,  but 
what  if  they  are  wrong?  The  strong  blows  and  forces 
of  life  have  always  been  prefaced  by  the  strength  of 
youth. 

Our  last  war  was  a  war  of  young  men,  and  they 
were  boys  who  took  up  their  weapons  and  marched 
beside  their  comrades.  They  had  their  moments  of 
carelessness ;  thev  showed  that  they  were  filled  with  life 
and  promise,  but  oh,  in  those  hearts  and  lives  there  was 
something  deeper  than  the  mere  thrill  of  the  moment ; 
something  greater  than  the  ambition  of  the  hour;  than 
the  inspiration  of  the  day!  Yet,  it  was  there!  It  is 
there  in  a  latent  state  now.  The  men  and  women  who 
came  to  these  shores  two  hundred  or  three  hundred 
years  ago  did  not  come  to  make  a  commercial  nation; 
they  did  not  come  in  order  that  they  might  have  places 


152  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

where  they  could  trade  freely.  Those  men  and  women 
came  to  these  shores  because  they  said,  “The  greatest 
thing  in  all  this  world  is  to  have  a  conscience,  and  to 
live  up  to  it !  And  any  nation  that  deprives  us  of  the 
worship  of  Almighty  God  as  our  consciences  dictate, 
cannot  hold  our  loyalty.”  Virginia,  the  Carolinas, 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Maryland,  New  York,  all 
through — from  Holland,  Scotland,  England,  or  Ireland, 
they  came  with  that  purpose  of  worshipping  God  and 
keeping  their  consciences  clear  and  strong,  for  they  had 
faith  and  believed. 

The  inheritance  of  our  land  and  of  every  Christian 
nation  worthy  of  the  name  is  conviction;  they  believed, 
and  if  they  made  a  law,  they  kept  that  law,  and  if  that 
law  was  wrong,  they  changed  that  law,  but  they  did  not 
break  it. 

I  am  not  here  to  say  (save  by  way  of  illustration) 
what  your  attitude  may  be  towards  the  Eighteenth 
Amendment,  but  I  do  want  to  say:  if  you  are  willing 
^ o  break  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  because  you  do 
not  believe  in  it,  you  are  not  a  true  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  Change  it,  if  it  is  your  conviction,  and  if  the 
majority  have  that  conviction  (I  do  not  believe  they 
have),  but  do  not  break  it,  and  the  man  who  breaks 
avowedly  is  disloyal  to  his  nation.  He  is  breaking  a 
law  which  his  nation  has  made. 

In  the  city  of  New  York,  within  the  past  few  weeks, 
a  man  arose  at  a  banquet  where  liquor  was  served.  He 
was  known  to  be  a  man  of  the  world,  but  a  man  of 
intrinsic  worth.  He  had  not  been  an  abstainer,  he 
was  a  man  of  large  influence.  When  the  liquor  was 
passed,  that  man  said,  “Not  one  drop.  You  men  know 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  SIN 


153 


that  I  drink  moderately,  but  our  nation  has  stamped  its 
name  upon  a  law,  and  you  know  as  well  as  I  know  that 
the  cause  of  this  action  was  largely  economic  rather 
than  religious”  (and  that  is  true;  we  must  be  fair). 
“You  know  that  this  country  has  made  a  law,  and  I 
shall  not  break  it,”  and  he  turned  his  glass  down. 

He  was  right,  and  if  you  purchase  drink — I  care 
not  what  your  name  may  be — you  are  wrong.  Change 
the  law,  if  you  will,  but  do  not  break  the  law ,  and  do 
not  laugh  at  a  great  nation  that  is  based  upon  a  majority 
rule.  Yrou  say  representatives  passed  this  law,  but  who 
are  the  representatives,  if  they  do  not  represent  the 
people  ?  The  fair  vote  of  the  people  passed  it. 

This  is  only  an  illustration,  but  I  want  to  vitalise 
something  in  language  which  some  of  you  will  under¬ 
stand. 

The  power  of  law  is  in  the  keeping  of  law. 

Now,  unbelief  in  a  thing  may  be  the  most  dangerous 
foe  of  truth.  Democracy  has  not  yet  sufficiently  proved 
itself  to  say  that  it  is  the  best  government  of  the  world. 
You  say,  “Do  not  be  unpatriotic.”  I  do  not  intend  to 
be,  but  Democracy  has  not  been  living  long  enough  yet 
to  prove  to  the  world  that  it  is  God’s  ultimate  ideal  of 
government.  I  believe  it  will,  and  you  believe  it  will, 
but  there  are  the  rocks ;  there  is  the  great  hissing  shoal 
that  has  wrecked  many  a  nation.  If  Democracy  is  not 
loyal  to  law,  Democracy  cannot  live,  and  if  law  does  not 
govern  great  cities,  Democracy  is  doomed,  because  the 
age  in  which  we  live  is  the  age  of  great  cities.  I  be¬ 
lieve  as  you  do  that  God  honours  and  will  honour  our 
representative  form  of  government,  but  it  depends  upon 
this  question — are  we  willing  to  keep  law?  Do  we 


154  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

believe  that  sin  is  justified?  The  same  great  truth 
applies  to  government  which  must  be  applied  to  the 
soul. 

“The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die/’  “Be  sure  your 
sin  will  find  you  out.’’  The  great  sure  fact  of  the  con¬ 
viction  of  sin  must  begin  with  the  individual  in  his 
own  soul,  and  must  go  through  him  to  government. 

I  do  not  often  refer  to  a  novel,  but  if  you  have  not 
read  “The  Master  of  Man”  by  Hall  Caine,  read  it.  It 
is  a  novel  which  will  go  down  in  history  in  my  private 
judgment.  It  has  been  published  in  eight  languages 
now;  it  will  probably  be  published  in  more.  It  goes  to 
the  very  root  of  the  thing  we  are  talking  about  this 
morning.  It  is  the  story  of  the  conviction  of  sin  in  a 
soul,  whose  splendid  victory  over  surroundings  and  self 
is  revealed  that  the  hero  may  live  with  a  clear  con¬ 
science. 

Victor  Stowell  always  will  stand  out  in  the  history 
of  fiction  and  Fenella  Stanley  will  always  be  a  character 
in  the  ideal  of  womanhood,  and  why?  Because  that 
man  and  that  woman  saw  that  nothing  was  worth  while 
so  much  as  that  clear  conscience  that  could  look  the  soul 
in  the  eye.  It  was  the  power  of  the  conviction  of  sin. 

Now,  men  and  women,  we  as  Christian  people  to-day 
are  overlooking  some  of  the  great  primaries  and  con¬ 
sidering  the  secondaries.  If  your  body  is  not  well  and 
strong  and  developing  vigorously,  your  mind  cannot 
do  its  best  work ;  your  heart  cannot  act  with  all  the  free 
course  it  should.  We  may  overcome  these  conditions, 
but  the  body  of  our  religious  thinking  to-day  is  ill  in  a 
great  many  instances,  and  we  are  substituting  the  deli¬ 
cacies  and  niceties  for  the  actual  food  which  gives  the 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  SIN 


155 


red  blood  to  the  veins  and  muscles,  and  strength  and 
acuteness  to  the  brain.  We  are  making  secondary 
things  primary  and  we  are  relegating  primary  things 
to  the  rear. 

What  is  your  attitude  to  God?  Are  you  a  sinner,  or 
not?  Do  you  need  forgiveness,  or  not?  Has  the 
Cross  of  Christ  come  into  your  life?  Are  you  a  for¬ 
given  child  of  God  because  you  are  a  saved  sinner? 

Listen  then  to  such  words  as  these :  “The  wrath  of 
God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungodliness  and 
unrighteousness  of  men,  who  hold  the  truth  in  un¬ 
righteousness.”  You  will  never  be  judged  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  black  man  in  Central  Africa  who  has  never 
heard  the  Gospel  message.  God  will  deal  with  him, 
but  unto  us  “who  hold  the  truth  in  unrighteousness,” 
the  wrath  of  heaven  is  revealed. 

The  great  saints  of  God  stopped  not  at  the  promises 
of  God  through  unbelief,  but  were  strong  in  the  faith. 

“Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any  of  you  an 
evil  heart  of  unbelief  in  departing  from  the  living 
God.” 

“Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  Him.” 

“Unto  you  therefore  which  believe  He  is  precious.” 

“He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  wit¬ 
ness  in  himself.” 

“And  straightway  the  father”  of  that  poor  child  who 
had  gone  out  in  sickness  and  death,  cried  out  and  said 
with  tears,  “Lord,  I  believe;  help  thou  mine  unbelief.” 

The  vast  old  world  of  which  we  are  so  vital  a  part 
is  suffering  just  now;  suffering  with  perplexity  more 
than  with  pain.  The  pain  was  felt  a  few  years  ago.  It 
is  suffering  with  an  anguish  of  soul  rather  than  a  great 


156  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

pain  of  body ;  suffering  with  anxiety  and  doubt.  What 
does  she  need? 

Yes,  the  answer  is  heard  in  the  rising  young  nation 
of  Czecho  Slovakia;  in  the  strange  outcry  from  Hun¬ 
gary;  in  the  confusion  of  Poland;  in  the  chaos  of 
Russia;  in  the  lack  of  credit  in  Germany;  in  the  help¬ 
lessness  of  the  Near  East;  in  the  perplexing  labour 
problems  of  England  and  we  may  add  America — what 
does  the  old  world  need  ? 

Oh,  men  and  women,  it  needs  a  sense  of  the  convic¬ 
tion  of  sin  and  of  a  return  to  God,  and  sin  can  never  be 
felt  in  the  multitude,  but  in  the  individual  heart. 

When  those  forefathers  came  to  New  York  and  to 
Connecticut  and  to  Maryland  and  to  the  other  colonies 
in  this  country,  what  did  they  come  for?  They  came 
that  as  individuals  they  might  face  the  problems  of 
their  religious  life.  Rome  and  often  the  established 
Church  said,  “No,  if  you  are  baptized;  if  you  are  re¬ 
ceived  by  us ;  if  you  go  through  the  form,  it  is  enough — 
leave  it  to  the  State,  for  the  State  and  the  Church  are 
one.”  No,  not  at  all!  It  was  the  Presbyterians  who 
fought  this  through,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  with  our 
Congregational  friends,  and  wTith  the  Baptists,  and  The 
Friends  and  others.  Then  it  was  that  great  strong  men 
stood  out  and  said,  “No,  we  believe  that  the  individual 
soul  must  answer  for  itself.  No  king,  nor  sovereign; 
no  state  nor  national  church  can  say  what  I  must  do, 
but  as  a  soul  before  God  I  am  under  the  conviction  of 
sin,  personally.  I  must  bow  before  my  God  and  gain 
the  power  of  my  own  life. 

The  government  of  United  States  was  based  upon 
that  policy.  We  have  not  a  sovereign  nation.  We 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  SIN  157 

have  a  nation  whose  constitution  believes  in  the  indi¬ 
vidual  conscience,  and  the  responsibility  of  every  citizen, 
and  as  we  are  loyal  to  our  nation’s  principles  and  truth, 
let  us  be  loyal  to  our  God. 

My  brother,  are  you  a  sinner  or  not?  If  you  are  a 
sinner  you  need  forgiveness,  and  there  is  only  one 
way :  “God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only 
begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should 
not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life.” 

For  the  sake  of  Christ;  for  the  sake  of  this  old 
world,  and  for  the  sake  of  your  own  soul,  I  plead  with 
you  to  respond  to  the  conviction  of  your  sin,  and  seek 
the  Saviour  of  mankind. 


XV 


FAITH  REWARDED 

“Then  touched  He  their  eyes,  saying,  ‘According  to 
your  faith  be  it  unto  you.’  ” — Matthew  9 129. 

Our  subject  this  morning  is  “Faith  and  Its  Reward.” 
The  illustration  of  the  two  blind  men  restored  to  sight 
is  a  clear  illustration  of  faith  rewarded.  “According 
to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you.”  It  was  so  with  the  ruler, 
the  account  of  which  is  narrated  in  the  same  chapter 
which  we  read  this  morning.  He  said,  “My  daughter 
is  now  dead,  but  lay  thy  hand  upon  her  and  she  shall 
live.”  It  was  also  true  of  the  woman  who  touched 
Him  in  the  throng,  whose  ailment  had  gone  on  through 
the  years.  Christ  said,  “Thy  Faith  hath  saved  thee.” 

The  profession  of  faith  is  not  so  much  needed  as  the 
possession  of  faith,  and  the  possession  of  faith  leads  to 
the  true  profession  of  faith.  It  is  not  a  hope,  but  a 
belief. 

“Just  as  I  am !  Thou  wilt  receive. 

Wilt  welcome,  pardon,  cleanse,  relieve; 

Because  Thy  promise  I  believe  ” 

Faith  is  not  a  something  unseen  and  unknown;  an 
incoherent,  unpossessable  will-o-the-wisp,  but  an  active 
actual  power.  Faith  is  a  possession,  faith  is  that  which 
we  seek  and  that  which  we  attain.  “According  to  your 
faith  be  it  unto  you.” 


158 


FAITH  REWARDED 


159 


“Abraham  believed  God  and  it  was  accounted  unto 
him  for  righteousness.”  “All  things  are  possible  to 
him  that  believeth”  “Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect 
peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee  because  he  trusteth 
in  Thee.” 

Let  us  first  consider  then  that  faith  does  not  exclude 
the  use  of  means,  but  it  does  not  stop  with  them.  The 
rulers  sought  Christ;  the  woman  touched  Christ;  the 
blind  men  went  into  the  house  following  Christ  after 
they  had  made  their  plea.  It  was  literally  true,  “Ac¬ 
cording  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you.”  “Believest  thou 
that  I  can  do  this?”  And  the  answer  was  that  they 
believed. 

Means  were  utilised;  they  accepted  faith;  this  wa^ 
the  trail  which  pointed  the  entrance  into  God’s  great  un¬ 
known  forest  of  reserve.  Faith  went  over  that  trail, 
but  there  was  a  trail ;  there  was  a  place  to  go ;  there  was 
a  way  to  walk.  There  is  a  great  danger  in  disregarding 
this  trail.  Christ  said,  “I  am  the  door;  By  me  if  any 
man  enter  in.”  Christ  also  said,  “Come  unto  me.” 
The  effort  must  be  made. 

Means  were  emphasised,  and  the  disregard  of  means 
in  the  exercise  of  faith  is  dangerous.  The  Lord  “made 
spittle  and  anointed  the  eyes”  of  another  who  was 
blind ;  the  Lord  “touched  the  eyes” ;  God  gave  Moses  a 
rod  with  which  to  exercise  his  command.  The  best  of 
medical  skill  should  be  accompanied  by  faith.  It  is 
unscriptural  to  disregard  the  means  which  God  has  pro¬ 
vided,  and  instead  of  lessening  faith,  they  increase  faith. 

We  are  in  great  danger  in  much  of  our  religious  in¬ 
terpretation,  as  well  as  in  much  of  the  philosophic 


160  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

teaching  called  religion  to-day,  in  disregarding  this 
sure  fact. 

It  is  time  that  the  pulpit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
without  fear  and  without  compromises,  spoke  forth  the 
great  words  of  Divine  Truth  in  all  this  question  of 
Divine  Healing,  for  there  is  much  that  is  called  re¬ 
ligion,  and  much  within  the  Church  that  is  called 
religious  that  is  unscriptural. 

The  ‘‘anointing  with  oil”  was  not  simply  a  known 
matter  of  faith,  for  oil  was  about  the  only  means  known 
in  the  days  of  Christ  which  physicians  used  for  cleans¬ 
ing  qualities,  and  there  was  a  material  benefit  in  that 
anointing  of  oil,  outside  and  inside.  It  was  the  best 
means  that  was  known.  The  disregard  of  the  best  that 
God  has  given  is  unscriptural  and  fails  in  the  great 
standard  of  Divine  Truth,  which  Jesus  Christ,  Himself, 
exercised  and  which  He  taught. 

The  disregard  of  means  when  provided  is  not  only 
unscriptural,  but  is  presumptuous,  and  leads  to  fanatical 
error.  It  is  as  foolish  as  an  attempted  aeroplane  with¬ 
out  an  engine. 

Theodore  Cuyler  used  to  say:  ‘‘God  does  not  give 
us  ready  money;  he  issues  promissory  notes  and  then 
pays  them  when  faith  presents  them  at  the  throne. 
Each  one  of  us  is  given  a  check  book.” 

The  faith  in  Samson  was  not  a  disregard  of  means. 
His  eyes  had  been  put  out- — true ;  his  strength  had  been 
taken  from  him,  for  he  had  broken  God’s  law,  and 
many  a  life  in  the  breaking  of  God's  law  has  lost  its 
power  of  faith,  and  fails  to  realise  what  is  the  cause. 
But,  there  is  a  chance ;  there  is  a  power  to  turn  back — a 
regaining  influence.  So,  we  can  see  Samson,  blinded 


FAITH  REWARDED 


161 


as  he  was — the  great  strength  of  his  body  standing  out 
as  he  bent  beneath  the  task  that  was  his ;  as  he  strained 
his  muscles  and  stretched  himself  to  that  task,  and 
leaned  between  those  great  pillars  until  they  yielded, 
and  the  great  roof  fell,  and  the  sinful  were  crushed  as 
they  fell  in  the  debris.  He  exercised  the  supreme  effort 
of  his  life  as  he  relied  upon  his  God.  He  ran  to  the 
contest  like  David  the  shepherd  lad. 

You  can  see  this  all  through  God’s  teaching.  Did 
David  select  those  five  little  stones  for  the  sling  and 
simply  rely  upon  his  own  strength?  No,  he  ran  to 
Goliath.  Constantly  the  servants  of  God  are  exercising 
their  every  effort.  Why  could  not  David  have  slain 
the  giant  without  a  sling  and  the  stones  ?  Why  not  say, 
“My  God  can  defeat  that  giant.”  No,  this  skillful 
youth,  this  shepherd  lad,  selected  these  stones  and  ran 
to  the  contest,  saying,  “Jehovah  is  greater  than  this 
false  champion  of  the  Philistines.” 

Let  us  then  understand  clearly  the  power  and  con¬ 
fidence  which  is  revealed  in  the  use  of  means  and 
understanding  it,  let  us  live  accordingly. 

Second :  Let  us  understand  that  the  Assurance  of 
faith  must  be  ours,  if  faith  is  to  be  rewarded.  I  love 
to  go  back  to  the  Old  Testament — sometimes  we  infer 
that  we  do  not  depend  upon  the  wise  sayings  of  the 
sages  of  God  who  have  spoken  in  the  olden  days.  Well, 
select  your  man.  Who  shall  he  be  ?  Solomon,  you  say 
— wiser  than  any  human  genius.  Far  more  so  in  his 
remarkable  sayings  than  Plato  or  Aristotle,  and  in¬ 
spired  of  God.  We  will  go  back  to  the  book  of 
Proverbs.  In  the  first  chapter  we  read :  “But  whoso 
hearkeneth  unto  me  shall  dwell  safely  and  shall  be  quiet 


162  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

from  fear  of  evil.”  How  is  this  for  assurance?  And 
in  the  fourteenth  chapter,  “In  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
strong  confidence  and  His  children  shall  have  a  place  of 
refuge.” 

Take  a  man  with  the  philosophic  bent  and  the 
spiritual  insight  of  St.  Paul.  He  said,  “Your  faith 
shall  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men  but  in  the  power 
of  God.”  Take  those  words  in  Hebrews — “Who 
through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteous¬ 
ness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed 
valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the 
aliens.” 

This  same  Paul  said,  “I  know  Whom  I  have  be¬ 
lieved.”  Go  back  to  old  Job,  and  he  says:  “I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth.”  The  contamination  of 
fleshy  conditions,  the  dire  punishment  which  the  world 
said  had  come  upon  him  because  of  his  sin  (and  which 
he  knew  was  not  true)  did  not  take  from  him  his 
assurance. 

Christ  said,  “Be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt.” 
“According  to  your  faith,  be  it  unto  you.” 

This  confidence  and  assurance  will  relate  itself  to 
prayer.  We  will  believe  and  possess,  because  we  be¬ 
lieve.  There  is  no  presumption  in  it.  “If  we  ask  any¬ 
thing  in  His  Name  He  heareth  us.” 

John  Flavel,  the  old  saint,  said:  “There  are  three 
acts  of  faith:  assent,  acceptance,  assurance,  and  the 
assurance  grows  out  of  the  other  two.” 

Third :  Faith  means  living  the  seen  life  in  the  unseen 
God.  “Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath 


FAITH  REWARDED 


163 


it  entered  the  heart  of  man  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.”  This  is  not  only  a 
promise  of  heaven,  but  it  is  a  possession  of  earth.  It 
is  beautiful  to  quote  that  verse  for  the  future,  and  it  is 
of  great  comfort  and  help  at  times  of  sorrow,  but  it 
was  not  originally  intended  for  funeral  services.  It  is 
a  present  possession.  “Eye  hath  not  seen,  neither  hath 
it  entered  the  heart  of  man  .  .  .  the  things  which  God 
hath  prepared  for  us.”  The  possessions  of  the  unseen 
God,  through  faith,  become  the  reality  of  the  seeing 
man  upon  earth.  It  does  not  in  any  way  lessen  the 
glory  and  beauty  of  the  future,  but  it  enhances  the 
present. 

We  are  living  in  a  day  when  a  great  deal  is  said  as 
to  religion  and  its  influences  upon  the  present  day  prob¬ 
lems.  Some  feel  this  is  unscriptural,  but  they  are  mis¬ 
guided.  You  often  hear  these  words:  “My  citizenship  . 
is  in  heaven,”  but  that  does  not  give  you  authority  to 
think  that  you  are  not  to  vote  right,  and  to  have  your 
share  of  helpfulness  in  the  world  in  which  we  live. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  does  not  go  with  poor 
sanitation,  nor  with  a  disregard  of  the  great  moral 
law.  The  strongest  human  lives  in  their  relationship 
to  Christ  are  those  who  exercise  the  forces  and  the 
power  of  the  present  in  their  confidence  and  belief,  and 
who  in  the  Unseen  God  have  faith  to  make  the  seen 
world  better. 

There  has  at  times  been  a  controversy,  a  wrong  con¬ 
troversy  and  unwarranted  controversy,  between  the 
elements  of  moral  reform,  social  betterment  and 
spiritual  leadership.  There  should  be  the  closest  sym¬ 
pathy.  The  Church,  whether  so  exercising  her  au- 


164  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

thority  by  name  or  not,  should  be  in  the  very  midst 
of  every  enterprise  for  the  betterment  of  mankind, 
for  the  correction  of  wrong,  the  enforcement  of  law! 
Thank  God  as  we  look  through  the  great  catalog  of 
philanthropic  institutions  and  institutions  of  moral  re¬ 
form,  we  find  that  the  men  and  leaders  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  have  been  connected  from  the  beginning  with 
these  works. 

It  is  not  strange  that  we  to-day  find  error  ofttimes 
encasing  and  surrounding  itself  by  that  interpretation 
of  life  that  closes  its  eyes  to  the  present  and  sees  only 
the  future,  but  it  is  unscriptural.  It  is  religious  bigotry 
of  the  worst  form ;  it  is  the  “holier  than  thou”  standard. 

The  power  of  the  Unseen  exercises  itself  in  the 
seen,  and  the  great  dangers  of  life  are  overcome  be¬ 
cause  of  this  Unseen  but  living  faith. 

Again  we  ought  to  realize  that  faith  accepts  God’s 
promises  and  thus  becomes  practical  conviction. 

James  Freeman  Clark  said,  “All  the  strength  and 
force  of  man  comes  from  his  faith  in  things  unseen, 
which  means  conviction.”  He  went  on  to  say  that  “it 
precedes  great  action.  Clear,  deep,  living  convictions 
rule  the  world.” 

God’s  promises  are  not  to  be  side-tracked  and  unbe¬ 
lieved,  but  because  God  speaks  we  are  to  believe  Him 
and  to  live  those  promises  in  that  living  faith  which 
responds  with  power  to  His  will  and  work. 

Napoleon,  when  reviewing  his  troops  in  Paris,  was 
riding  his  splendid  steed,  when  his  bridle  fell  from  his 
hand,  and  the  "horse,  a  great  fiery  beast,  uncontrolled 
save  with  his  touch,  leaped  away.  Before  Napoleon 
could  get  that  bridle  a  soldier  from  the  ranks  darted 


FAITH  REWARDED  165 

out  and  seizing  the  bridle  placed  it  in  Napoleon’s  hand. 
Napoleon  said,  “Thank  you,  captain,”  and  immediately 
the  man  responded:  “Of  what  regiment,  sire?”  Na¬ 
poleon  answered,  “Of  my  guard.”  He  left  his  gun  and 
went  to  the  officers’  headquarters.  They  said  to  him : 
“What  means  this  undisciplined  fellow?  Why  are  you 
here  among  these  officers?”  He  said,  “Because  I  am  a 
captain,  sir.”  The  officer  said,  “Captain,”  and  sneered 
at  him.  “Of  what  regiment?”  “Of  his  guard,”  the 
soldier  replied  pointing  to  Napoleon  who  was  passing. 
“Who  said  so?”  asked  an  officer.  “He  did,  General,” 
was  the  reply.  The  General  responded,  ‘Pardon  me, 
sir;  we  honour  you  in  your  position.” 

“The  captain  of  his  guard!”  Why  Napoleon  had 
said  it,  and  the  private  soldier  believed  it  and  took  him 
at  his  word.  And  you  and  I,  before  the  King  of  kings, 
and  before  the  promises  of  the  Almighty  God  wither 
and  tremble  with  fear  when  God  says,  “Believe,  accept,” 
and  the  strength  of  God’s  power  is  in  the  recognition 
of  that  response. 

The  realisation  and  possession  of  such  faith  can 
change  the  influence  of  Christ  throughout  the  world. 

Dr.  Parkhurst  used  to  say,  “Faith  is  the  heroism  of 
the  intellect.”  Ruskin  said,  “The  proper  power  of 
faith  is  to  trust  without  evidence,  not  with  evidence,” 
and  you  and  I  are  trying  to  make  faith  something  that 
it  is  not.  We  say,  “Yes,  show  me  the  evidence.” 
JVhy,  that  is  not  faith.  Faith  is  to  trust  without  that 
ezndence  in  the  confidence  and  belief  of  the  living  God. 

I  love  those  words  we  quoted  in  prayer  this  morning 
from  Tennyson : 


166  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

“Strong  Son  of  God,  Immortal  Love, 

Whom  we  that  have  not  seen  Thy  face, 

By  faith  and  faith  alone  embrace, 

Believing  where  we  cannot  prove.” 

There  is  a  wonderful  power  and  influence  in  this 
exercise  of  faith.  God  Himself  says  He  will  make 
strength  out  of  weakness,  and  that  the  use  of  power 
which  we  have  will  respond  constantly,  even  as  God 
Himself  provides.  There  is  an  old  proverb  which  says, 
“Weave  in  faith  and  God  will  find  the  thread.” 

Our  own  Whittier  was  more  than  inspired  by  human 
thought  when  he  said : 

“I  know  not  where  His  islands  lift 
Their  fronded  palms  in  air, 

I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 
Beyond  His  love  and  care.” 

It  was  the  exercise  of  a  great  faith  in  a  day  when 
the  nation  was  in  turmoil,  and  when  the  thoughts  of 
men  were  filled  with  strife  and  confusion  that  this 
man’s  faith  was  exercised  in  such  thoughts. 

I  love  that  story  of  Wesley  when,  as  a  youth,  he  was 
convinced  of  the  Lutheran  Doctrine  and  interpretation 
of  Justification  by  Faith.  He  said,  “I  cannot  preach 
any  more.  It  is  too  powerful.”  He  went  to  a  young 
Moravian  Missionary,  and  said,  “I  cannot  preach  be- 
lieving  that  truth.”  The  Missionary  said,  “Yes, 
preach.’  Wesley  said,  “What  shall  I  preach?”  The 
Moravian  said,  “Preach  faith  until  you  have  it,  then 
preach  faith  because  you  have  it.”  That  was  what 
Wesley  did  and  it  resulted  in  his  great  influence. 

Paul  did  not  say,  “I  do  not  know  whom  I  have 


FAITH  REWARDED 


167 


believed,  but  I  know  what  he  wants  me  to  do.”  No.  He 
said,  “I  know  whom  I  have  believed,”  and  then  “What 
wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do.” 

Believe!  Oh,  but  you  say  there  are  so  many  doubts 
and  difficulties.  Of  course  there  are,  and  always  will 
be.  But  the  Saviour  heeded  the  prayer,  “Lord  I  be¬ 
lieve,  help  Thou  my  unbelief.” 

And  to-day  when  the  varied  conditions  of  human 
life  seem  in  the  very  balance,  men  are  challenged,  not 
as  to  their  deeds  alone,  but  as  to  their  faith.  Men  of 
courage,  men  of  confidence,  men  of  hope,  men  of  life ! 
Believe,  and  as  the  convictions  of  a  great  faith  thrill 
your  life,  the  mists  will  be  backed  up  by  the  sun! 
There  will  be  a  rift  in  the  cloud  until  all  is  clear,  and 
living  in  the  splendid  life  of  confidence  and  belief,  you 
will  say,  “My  Lord  and  My  God!” 


XVI 


GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY 

“And  man  became  a  living  soul.” — Genesis  2 \J. 

Ours  is  a  profound  theme  this  morning.  One  feels 
almost  like  running  from  it.  Not  because  its  greatness 
is  not  recognised,  but  because  a  true  student  of  the 
subject  finds  himself  asking:  “What  is  man  that  Thou 
art  mindful  of  him,  or  the  Son  of  man  that  Thou 
visitest  him?”  He  feels  the  utter  inability  of  a  human 
being  to  express  the  meaning  of  such  a  truth ! 

This  is  a  very  hot  day.  Many  of  us  are  strangers; 
many  have  come  here  to  worship  God  without  particu¬ 
lar  thought  as  to  a  particular  theme,  but  may  God  grant 
that  this  theme  this  morning  may  grip  our  minds  and 
mould  our  characters,  irrespective  of  conditions  or  sur¬ 
roundings. 

The  text  is  found  in  Genesis  2  :j.  The  27th  verse  of 
the  first  chapter  says:  “So  God  created  man  in  His 
own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  He  him;  male 
and  female  created  He  them.”  .  .  .  “and  man  became 
a  living  soul.” 

When  the  great  poet  Tennyson  was  picturing  one 
who,  out  of  the  depth  of  sorrow  and  perplexity  and 
loss  of  years,  must  look  into  the  past  and  face  the 
future,  he  said  of  Enoch  Arden : 


GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY 


169 


“Plis  resolve  upbore  him,  and  firm  faith, 

And  prayer,  from  a  living  source 
Within  the  will, 

And  beating  up  through  all  this  bitter  world, 
Like  fountains  of  sweet  w^ter  in  the  deep, 

Kept  him  a  living  soul.'’ 

God  made  man  a  “living  soul.’’  The  beasts  of  the 
field,  He  created;  all  that  makes  up  the  species  of  nature 
everywhere,  and  over  them  all  He  put  a  dominating 
spirit,  and  that  dominating  spirit  was  man.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  worthless  talk  to-day  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  human  race.  To  me  it  does  not  seem  worthy  the 
discussion  and  prominence  it  is  gaining.  God’s  Word 
says :  “And  man  became  a  living  soul.” 

A  great  authority  in  the  British  Museum  (and 
there  is  no  greater)  says  there  has  never  been  the 
slightest  scientific  evidence  which  has  revealed  any 
connecting  link  between  the  animal  kingdom  and  that 
which  we  call  human. 

Now,  one  other  word — why  discuss  it?  Why  not 
accept  the  great  unmakeable,  unchangeable  God- 
created?  We  do  not  read  that  God  developed,  but 
“in  the  beginning  God  created ”  The  Creator  made 
man  in  His  own  image  and  endowed  him  with  gifts 
which  brute  creation  has  never  had  and  cannot  attain. 

The  soul  of  man,  then,  is  our  theme,  but  more — 
“God-given  personality,’’  that  which  is  divine  in  human 
form. 

In  order  that  we  may  be  clear,  consider  this  illustra¬ 
tion:  Take  a  great  group  of  ignorant  people — those 
who  have  never  had  intellectual  training  in  any  form, 
who  have  lived  as  brutes.  There  is  nothing  that  marks 


170  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

the  individual  from  the  individual.  They  are  almost 
alike,  but  when  intelligence  begins,  faces  begin  to 
change,  heads  begin  to  change  in  form  and  the  very 
brains  of  a  man  express  themselves  in  his  eyes.  Again, 
look  into  a  college  graduating  class.  You  see  any¬ 
where  from  five  hundred  or  one  thousand  up  in  a  class 
of  one  of  our  Universities,  and  as  they  go  up  to  get 
their  diplomas  you  notice  the  individuality  of  those 
graduates ;  the  distinction  of  those  faces ;  the  difference 
in  those  personalities ;  and,  the  greater  the  intelligence, 
the  more  clearly  outlined  in  the  faces  is  the  marked 
individuality.  Look  at  a  great  crowd  of  ignorant, 
superstitious,  careless  people,  and  they  almost  seem  as 
if  they  were  the  repetition  of  one  man  and  seem  alike. 
God  made  a  distinct  and  definite  personality  of  every 
one  of  us.  I  am  speaking  of  the  normal  life,  the  health¬ 
ful  life.  He  gave  to  us  a  capability  of  developing  that 
individual  something  which  we  call  ourself.  Our  own 
souls  are  unique. 

How  far  are  we  as  individuals  to  give  back  to  God 
the  true  development  of  that  responsibility  which  He 
has  placed  upon  us  in  filling  our  lives  with  Himself? 
He  made  our  souls  worthy  of  the  God-like  personality 
which  He  has  given  to  us.  Notice  the  twenty-seventh 
verse  of  the  first  chapter:  “So  God  created  man  in  His 
own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him.” 

Now  the  record  of  the  fall.  Just  why  the  Eternal 
Mind  should  have  planned  that  the  human  being 
whom  He  had  created  should  not  eat  of  the  tree  of 
good  and  evil,  and  thus  gain  the  knowledge  thereof, 
we  do  not  know,  but  that  human  characteristic  was 
implanted  somewhere  so  that  the  desire  to  do  that 


GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY 


171 


which  was  withheld  stood  out  as  sin.  Sin  was  not  in 
the  inclination,  but  in  the  yielding.  That  human  life 
yielded,  and  now  the  human  life  knows  evil  as  well  as 
good.  God  is  there,  but  there  is  added  the  tendency 
to  do  wrong  and  evil.  Now  that  tendency  to  do  wrong 
developed  into  all  that  was  low.  That  was  the  sepa¬ 
rating  influence  from  God.  Goodness  was  a  part  of 
Him.  Then  came  the  decline  that  departed  from  the 
eternal  to  the  human,  and  sin  with  all  its  influence  and 
wrong  began  and  continued. 

How  can  man  get  back  to  God?  How  can  man 
reclaim  his  loss  ?  How  can  man  have  again  that  which 
was  and  is  his  by  divine  inheritance  ?  How  constantly 
he  has  sought  and  failed!  This  Old  Testament  history 
from  Genesis  right  through  the  Exodus  reveals  it. 
Right  on  through  that  law  period  of  Leviticus,  on 
through  Numbers  and  Deuteronomy,  and  the  record  of 
those  historical  days ;  through  the  days  of  Samuel  and 
the  Judges,  through  the  Kings  into  the  books  of  Ezra, 
Nehemiah  and  Esther,  that  beautiful  picture  of  domes¬ 
tic  life;  through  the  trials  of  Job  and  the  great  songs 
of  David,  it  proceeds.  Then  through  the  Proverbs  of 
that  wisest  of  all  men,  and  the  songs  which  bear  his 
name,  and  the  greater  prophets  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  Daniel,  with  the  Minor  Prophets  of  Hosea, 
Joel,  Amos,  Obadiah,  Jonah,  Micah  down  to  Malachi — 
those  prophets,  every  one,  leading  up  to  the  Gospel 
Story  of  the  New  Testament,  tell  us  of  the  failure  of 
man  to  regain  his  position  with  God.  “Man  became  a 
living  soul/’  but  this  God-given  personality  had  sinned, 
and  on  through  these  ages  not  only  the  individual,  but 


172  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

organised  Israel  and  Judah,  and  all  those  who  were 
related  to  them  sinned  constantly  against  God. 

David  cried  unto  God  and  realised  that  he  was  a 
sinner.  He  yielded  to  a  gross  sin,  and  then  in  the 
moment  when  that  prophet  turned  to  him  and  said : 
“Thou  art  the  man/’  he  said,  “Have  mercy  upon  me, 
O  God!  Blot  out  my  transgression.  Wash  me  thor¬ 
oughly  from  mine  iniquity  and  cleanse  me  from  my 
sin!”  Isaiah  looked  upon  a  world  of  vice  and  sin  and 
said,  “What  hope  is  there?”  Then  a  voice  speaking 
through  Isaiah  said,  “Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet, 
they  shall  be  white  as  snow;  though  they  be  red  like 
crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool.”  Then  again  a  voice 
saying  not  only,  “Come  now  and  let  us  reason  together, 
saith  the  Lord,”  but  “All  we  like  sheep  have  gone 
astray;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way,  and 
the  Lord  hath  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.” 
“Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sor¬ 
rows,  yet  we  do  esteem  Him  stricken,  smitten  of  God 
and  afflicted.  But  He  was  wounded  for  our  trans¬ 
gressions,  He  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities ;  the  chas¬ 
tisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him,  and  with  His 
stripes  we  are  healed.”  Isaiah,  that  great  prophet  of 
all  ages,  whose  heart  was  broken  because  of  his  people, 
cried  out,  “O  God,  have  mercy  upon  these,  Thy  chil¬ 
dren,  who  have  sinned  against  Thee  constantly.”  Thus 
we  find  the  cry  of  all  those  prophets  recognises  the 
failure  of  man  to  live  up  to  the  state  to  which  God  had 
called  him.  Man  was  made  in  God’s  image  ;  man  became 
a  living  soul,  but  he  degraded  himself.  He  fell  from  his 
life.  He  became  like  the  beasts  of  the  field  that  perish. 
We  pass  through  great  forests  and  great  rivers  and  see 


GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY 


173 


dirt  and  mud  in  all  their  accumulation,  when  all  about 
there  are  fields  filled  with  the  verdure  and  beauty,  and 
the  loveliness  and  growth  of  nature,  but  beasts  wallow 
on  because  of  their  nature,  and  man  whom  God  created 
in  His  own  image  fell  from  the  estate  in  which  God 
had  placed  him!  And  the  great  cry  and  sorrow  of 
human  life  are  not  the  result  of  God’s  choice,  but  the 
result  of  man’s  act  as  through  the  inclination  of  sin 
he  fell  from  the  estate  into  which  God  had  placed  him. 
It  is  the  same  throughout  the  history  of  the  world. 
Generations  repeat  themselves.  Hundreds  of  ages  have 
passed  since  the  words  of  our  text  were  quoted,  and 
still  man’s  inclination  is  just  the  same.  “Man  became 
a  living  soul,’’  but  he  falls  from  that  estate. 

Consider  also  this  sad  fact.  The  dumb  animal  is  not 
conscious  of  anything  said  to  him.  You  may  speak  to 
one  of  those  beasts  and  say  all  you  want  to  about 
wallowing  in  the  mud,  but  he  wallows  on.  You  may 
speak  to  man  in  a  wise  and  thoughtful  way  and  there 
is  something  in  his  soul  that  responds,  unless  sin  has 
gone  so  far  as  to  petrify  the  very  instinct  of  the  soul. 
There  are  some  humans  no  doubt  in  this  world  who 
will  just  grunt  and  wallow;  who  “only  live  to  sleep 
and  feed.’’  They  are  “the  unlettered  herd.”  With 
others  there  is  a  response — a  latent  something  which 
says,  “I  desire,  I  long,”  and  sometimes  it  has  the 
character  to  say,  “I  will,”  and  follow  the  will  with 
action. 

To  restore  the  great  purpose  and  plan  of  God  in  hu¬ 
man  life — that  is  the  question.  The  God-given  soul,  the 
God-given  personality !  Is  it  to  overcome  or  to  be  over¬ 
come?  Is  it  to  die  in  sin  and  immorality  and  wrong, 


174  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

or  overcome  and  strive  to  win  and  gain  the  ascendency 
of  right  and  purity  and  truth?  Milton  wrote  that 
great  book,  “Paradise  Lost,”  but  the  world  cried  out : 
“Give  us  a  Paradise  Regained!”  When  in  his  prison 
cell,  in  the  anxiety  of  sin  and  ignorance  around  him, 
John  Bunyan  wrote  of  a  pilgrim  seeking  a  celestial 
city,  the  world  received  a  priceless  allegory,  not  because 
it  is  a  marvellous  piece  of  English,  nor  for  the  rare 
imagery  of  a  unique  writer,  but  because  the  soul  really 
longed  for  that  celestial  city,  and  the  soul  created  in 
God's  image  wanted  something  pure  and  beautiful. 

God  has  given  to  us  a  divine  instinct  and  so  we 
crave  and  long  for  that  which  we  know  we  do  not 
possess. 

Now  here  comes  the  wonderful  strategic  point — the 
great  crisis,  as  if  all  of  life  were  on  this  earth  and  all  of 
death  were  here  too.  The  Major  and  Minor  prophets 
have  spoken  their  very  worst  and  have  condemned  the 
world.  There  seems  to  be  no  hope,  no  chance;  the 
advisors  of  the  weak  suffering  Job  go  away  in  disgust, 
and  say,  “He  will  not  listen  to  our  wisdom,”  but  Job 
realises  that  there  is  a  wisdom  beyond  the  wisdom  of 
human  life.  What  is  that  crisis?  The  crisis  is  the 
Cross.  The  world  has  never  known  its  fulness,  nor 
its  meaning,  and  the  world  can  never  understand  it. 
A  mystery!  But,  “at  the  Cross  where  I  first  saw  the 
light”  there  the  spirit  of  God  meets  the  need  of  man, 
and  God  calls  man  back  in  his  creative  strength  and 
says,  “I  am  come  that  ye  might  have  life  and  that  ye 
might  have  it  abundantly,”  and  man  again  becomes  a 
living  soul,  and  sin  has  found  its  conqueror.  This  is 


GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY 


175 


the  message  of  the  Cross.  That  Cross  is  the  “power 
of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth.” 

“The  first  Adam  was  made  a  living  soul;  the  second 
Adam  was  made  a  life-giving  spirit/’  “As  in  Adam  all 
die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.”  The 
power  of  Jesus  Christ  to  save  the  soul  of  man  is 
recognised  everywhere.  It  is  only  the  arrogant,  the 
thoughtless,  the  careless  who  are  carried  away  by  the 
love  of  wisdom,  by  a  false  and  sometimes  misleading 
philosophy,  who  fail  to  know  the  message  and  see 
the  power  of  this  great  living  truth  wherein  the  soul’ 
may  again  gain  its  own  personality  in  the  God-given 
salvation  of  the  Cross.” 

We  are  living  in  a  very  peculiar  age.  Every  one  is 
thinking  of  religion  in  terms  of  generality,  in  desires 
and  inclinations  to  understand  and  know,  but  without 
definiteness  of  vision.  Everywhere  there  are  vagaries 
of  truth.  When  a  new  so-called  religious  truth  is  to  be 
presented,  men  flock  to  hear.  Why  ?  Because  the  world 
realises  its  failure  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  soul.  Philos¬ 
ophies  do  not  satisfy.  The  very  vagaries  of  thought 
of  mere  philosophy  are  the  manifestations  of  the 
questioning  of  the  soul  for  something  that  will  satisfy. 
Men  live  and  die  simply  to  find  they  are  not  satisfied. 

Why  not  come  back  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Cross? 
Why  not  realise  what  it  is  to  know  that  we  are  stewards 
of  the  mystery  of  God  and  that  the  very  mystery  is  that 
which  makes  it  priceless.  The  greatest  intellects  in  all 
the  world  are  the  men  who  realise  how  little  they  know 
about  the  subjects  they  study.  You  know  how  easy 
it  is  for  a  boy  in  his  first  class  in  chemistry  to  go  home 
to  his  mother  and  say  “I  know  all  there  is  to  know 


176  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

about  chemistry/'  but  if  he  were  to  talk  with  his  pro¬ 
fessor  who  has  spent  his  life  in  studying,  he  would  say, 
“My  boy,  we  are  only  beginning  to  understand  this 
subject,  and  I  feel  as  if  I  knew  nothing  of  it.”  Some 
one  said  at  one  time  to  John  Bright,  “What  a  wonder¬ 
ful  knowledge  of  law  you  have!"  He  replied,  “Would, 
young  man,  that  I  knew  the  first  elements  of  justice !  I 
am  only  a  student  of  justice.”  Great  lives  are  overcome 
by  the  majesty  of  mystery;  little  lives  must  know  every 
single  step  in  definition.  They  do  not  know  the  realm 
of  faith.  Great  lives  work  on  in  mystery  that  they  may 
gain  the  truth  and  understand  its  scope.  The  greatness 
of  a  soul  is  measured  not  by  its  knowledge,  nor  by  the 
recognition  of  its  own  learning,  but  by  the  conscious¬ 
ness  of  its  own  ignorance. 

Insincere  people  who  are  not  good  are  ofttimes  dis¬ 
covered  in  their  sin  because  they  proclaim  their  right¬ 
eousness.  Humility  is  an  evidence  of  worth,  unless  it 
is  insincere. 

God  has  breathed  into  our  beings  the  breath  of  life, 
and  Jesus  Christ  came  that  we  might  have  life  and 
have  it  abundantly. 

Then  the  meaning  of  the  Cross  is  mysterious.  Of 
course,  it  is.  Who  has  ever  solved  it?  We  have  books 
which  claim  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement. 
I  have  never  read  an  explanation  that  satisfied  my 
intellectual  life,  and  never  expect  to  read  one.  The 
strength  of  the  Atonement  is  not  an  argument  but  a 
faith.  The  power  of  the  Atonement  is  that  it  never  has 
been  and  never  can  be  successfully  argued  by  a  human 
mind.  It  grows  in  the  realm  of  mystery. 

On  the  Commons  of  Boston,  forty  years  ago,  they 


GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY 


177 


arrested  Dr.  Hastings.  Why?  Because  he  proclaimed 
what  they  claimed  was  a  sectarianism,  but  he  simply 
stood  for  the  Atonement  on  the  authority  of  God’s 
Word.  They  questioned  him  in  one  of  the  halls  of 
Justice,  and  he  answered  them  by  this  thought:  “You 
ask  me  a  question;  I  will  ask  you  one.,,  He  said, 
“Where  does  the  egg  come  from?”  They  laughed  and 
said,  “From  a  hen.”  Said  Hastings,  “Where  does  a 
hen  come  from?”  “An  egg,”  they  said.  “I  thought 
you  said  the  egg  came  from  the  hen,”  he  replied.  “Oh, 
well,  I  meant  the  hen  came  from  the  egg.”  “Do  you 
understand  it  ?  Can  you  make  an  egg  with  a  hen  in  it  ? 
Can  you  make  a  hen  that  will  produce  an  egg?  Who 
made  the  egg?  Who  made  the  hen?  What  is  life? 
What  I  proclaim  is  the  meaning  of  the  divine  mystery 
which  tells  us  that  life  is  unknown,  and  you  men  on 
the  streets  of  this  independent,  frank,  open  city  of 
freedom  arrest  me  for  proclaiming  the  mystery  of  God 
and  life  and  Christ.  Again,  I  proclaim,  saying,  Tn 
him  is  life  and  the  life  is  the  light  of  men.’  ”  They  let 
Hastings  go  and  the  justice  of  the  city  was  answered. 

Whoever  has  answered  the  question  since  ?  What  is 
life?  What  makes  life?  Has  any  one  ever  attended 
any  hospital,  studio  or  laboratory  in  all  the  world  where 
a  germ  was  made  which  has  life  in  it?  Why  the 
ridiculousness  of  it  is  apparent.  What  is  life?  God 
made  man  in  his  own  image  and  with  that  image  He 
gave  him  the  mystery  of  the  divine  hope  and  divine 
purpose.  Oh,  men  and  women,  you  and  I  have  the 
opportunity  and  the  responsibility  to  live  true  to  that 
Divine  Image  in  which  we  are  created. 

The  great  question  of  the  ages  is  not  the  question — 


178  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Who  is  God?  Or,  What  is  man?  The  great  question 
of  the  ages  is  this :  What  are  these  souls  of  ours  to  do 
in  the  perfection  of  that  great  moral,  intellectual  and 
spiritual  nature,  whereby  more  of  God  becomes  a  part 
of  human  life,  human  thinking  and  human  acting? 
That  is  where  the  simplicity  of  Jesus  comes  in.  Men 
who  have  learned  to  be  like  God  have  seen  the  image 
of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  That  is  why  these  words  which 
were  written  by  John  are  priceless.  He  seemed  to 
understand  better  than  others  just  what  the  mystery  of 
this  truth  was,  and  so  he  says  in  the  twelfth  verse  of 
his  first  chapter :  “As  many  as  received  Him,  to  them 
gave  He  the  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even 
to  them  that  believe  on  His  name.”  And  in  the  four¬ 
teenth  verse  of  the  first  chapter,  “And  the  Word  be¬ 
came  flesh.”  God  was  made  flesh — “And  the  Word 
was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld  His 
glory,  the  glory  of  the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father, 
full  of  grace  and  truth.”  God  came  down  and  was 
man.  He  became  flesh  that  we  might  understand  God ; 
learn  to  live  and  think  like  God,  and  love  like  God,  and 
learn  to  overcome  in  the  righteousness  and  power  of 
His  life.  That  is  the  Gospel  message  of  His  Son. 
That  is  why  Christ  became  man  and  dwelt  among  us 
and  we  beheld  His  glory. 

The  question  of  the  hour  is,  “How  can  you  and  I 
overcome  and  be  like  Him  ?”  I  read  this  week  of  a  man 
who  died  in  a  small  community  in  a  western  state.  The 
article  said  he  was  a  man  of  which  his  community  said, 
“He  walked  with  God,  and  everybody  loved  him.” 
Unknown  to  me,  to  you,  but  not  to  God — a  man  who 
like  Enoch  of  old,  “walked  with  God.” 


GOD-GIVEN  PERSONALITY  179 

The  great  question  of  the  age  is  how  this  mind,  this 
body  of  ours;  how  this  human  of  ours;  this  brain,  this 
soul  can  learn  more  of  God  and  know  more  of  God  and 
live  more  like  Him  and  understand  the  future  and 
mystery  of  it  so  that  when  we  come  to  die,  it  will  be  all 
right.  “And  man  became  a  living  soul.”  “God 
breathed  into  him  the  breath  of  life.”  “Christ  came 
that  we  might  have  life  and_ might  have  it  more 
abundantly.”  The  privilege  of  the  hour  is  the  privilege 
of  your  soul  and  mine.  Statesmen  after  statesmen 
have  said  that  the  great  question  of  the  ages  is  the 
personal  relationship  of  the  soul  to  God.  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  make  it  sure  and  permanent;  and  may  the  life 
of  Christ  come  into  our  hearts  and  lives,  that  living, 
walking  and  knowing  Him  we  may  have  the  abundant 
life.  Then  the  God-given  soul  and  the  God-given  per¬ 
sonality  will  be  able  to  say  with  Paul,  “For  me  to  live  is 
for  Christ  to  live,”  and  “God  forbid  that  I  should  glory 
save  in  the  Cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  I 
am  crucified  unto  the  world  and  the  world  unto  me.” 
“I  am  crucified  with  Christ;  nevertheless  I  live,  yet  not 
I  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  and  the  life  that  I  now  live  in 
ijhe  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me.”  “For  me  to  live 
is  Christ.”  This  is  the  God-given  personality:  And 
the  new  birth  in  Christ  again  “makes  man  a  living 
soul.” 


XVII 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

“But  ye  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  come  upon  you.” — Acts  i  :8. 

Great  truths  demand  great  faith.  Great  faith  mag¬ 
nifies  God  and  minimises  self.  Great  faith  simplifies 
definitions  and  accepts  statements  because  of  belief  in 
him  who  affirms.  The  life  corresponds  to  the  faith, 
and  is  accepted  as  vital  because  the  believer  becomes  the 
incarnation  of  his  belief.  Abraham  believed  God,  and 
it  was  “accounted  to  him  for  righteousness.”  We  be¬ 
lieve  in  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  We 
accept  our  Saviour’s  word,  “He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father”;  and  also,  “I  and  my  Father  are  one.” 
We  also  accept  the  words  of  Christ,  “Believe  me  that  I 
am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me,  or  else  believe 
it  for  the  very  works’  sake.”  “Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  he  that  believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do 
shall  he  do  also,  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he 
do,  because  I  go  unto  the  Father.”  “Whatsoever  ye 
shall  ask  in  my  name  that  will  I  do.  .  .  .  If  ye  shall 
ask  anything  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do.  .  .  .  And  I 
will  pray  the  Father  and  He  will  give  you  another 
Helper,  that  He  may  be  with  you  forever,  even  the 
Spirit  of  Truth.  Whom  the  world  cannot  receive 
because  it  beholdeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him. 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  181 


But  ye  know  Him,  for  He  abideth  with  you  and  shall 
be  in  you/’ 

A  little  later  Christ  says :  “These  things  have  I 
spoken  unto  you  while  yet  abiding  with  you,  but  the 
Comforter,  even  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father  will 
send  in  my  name,  He  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and 
bring  to  your  remembrance  all  that  I  said  unto  you.” 

Again  He  adds  in  the  same  Gospel,  as  recorded  by 
John :  “I  tell  you  the  truth.  It  is  wise  for  you  that  I 
go  away,  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not; 
come  unto  you.  If  I  go  I  will  send  Him  unto  you,  and 
when  He  is  come,  He  will  convict  the  world  in  respect 
of  sin  and  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment.  .  .  . 
When  the  Spirit  of  Truth  is  come,  He  shall  guide  you 
into  all  truth.  He  shall  not  speak  of  Himself,  but  what 
things  soever  He  shall  hear,  these  shall  He  speak.  .  .  . 
He  shall  glorify  me.  He  shall  take  of  mine  and  declare 
it  unto  you.” 

These  words  were  the  words  of  our  Master  just 
before  He  was  crucified.  After  His  resurrection,  just 
before  He  ascended,  He  said  to  the  men  of  Galilee : 
“Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
come  upon  you.  Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses.” 

W  e  treasure  the  last  words  of  the  great  souls  of 
earth,  and  of  those  whom  we  love,  with  supreme  care. 
When  with  sane  mind  and  thoughtful  consideration 
those  words  have  been  spoken,  they  are  ever  held  in 
sacred  memory  and  have  inestimable  influence.  Re¬ 
cently  one  of  our  beloved  citizens,  having  died,  left  a 
beautiful  wish  and  admonition  for  his  children  regard¬ 
ing  their  care  for  their  mother  and  for  one  another, 


182  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

and  the  touching  words  are  constantly  repeated  in  the 
homes  of  all  who  knew  and  loved  the  family. 

Our  Lord  and  Master  states  these  words  as  to  the 
Holy  Spirit  with  gracious  wisdom  and  profound  in¬ 
sight.  He  knew  that  He  was  soon  to  leave  those  who 
were  dependent  upon  Him,  and  whose  faith  had  been 
largely  centred  in  His  personality  and  leadership.  He 
had  for  this  great  world,  and  for  the  ever-increasing 
Church  which  He  loved,  a  legacy  far  greater  than  He 
Himself  could  ever  give  had  He  remained  on  the  earth, 
the  Man  of  Nazareth  and  the  leader  of  the  twelve.  A 
limited  circle  would  come  into  personal  and  vital  asso¬ 
ciation  with  Him,  but  the  Invisible  and  Eternal,  Omni¬ 
present  Spirit  was  to  make  His  dwelling  place  in  human 
hearts,  and  every  Christian  body  was  to  become  His 
indwelling  temple. 

We  believe  in  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God 
the  Holy  Spirit.  And  may  I  ask  this  morning  why  we 
do  not  appreciate  and  appropriate  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  according  to  the  promises  of 
our  Lord  and  Master  ? 

The  preface  of  our  text  is  very  human.  The  won¬ 
derful  experiences  of  the  resurrection  had  not  taken 
from  Christ’s  followers  the  curiosity  and  craving  for 
the  outward  manifestation  of  His  glory.  They  were 
impatient.  Time,  place  and  events  filled  their  minds. 
When  would  this  Victor  over  death  and  the  grave 
“restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel”?  We  can  pic¬ 
ture  our  risen  Lord  with  calm  and  deliberate  voice, 
replying  to  them,  “It  is  not  for  you  to  know  times  or 
seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  set  within  His  own 
authority.  But  ye  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  183 


Spirit  is  come  unto  you;  and  ye  shall  be  my  wit¬ 
nesses.” 

The  one  great  truth  which  Christ  would  impart 
to  those  early  followers,  so  soon  to  be  left  without  His 
personality  and  presence  in  leadership,  was  the  truth 
of  the  reality  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  power  which 
was  to  be  theirs  through  Him. 

Throughout  the  centuries  and  ages  of  the  Christian 
Church  this  theme  has  been  without  a  rival,  and  still 
we  seem  to  evade  and  postpone  it,  perhaps  because  so 
many  have  erred  in  narrowing  and  limiting  and  mis¬ 
construing  it ;  perhaps  because  we  have  feared  to  tread 
such  holy  ground.  The  Church  of  Christ  has  needed 
this  truth,  and  needs  it  more  than  ever  in  this  age  in 
which  we  live,  so  filled  with  its  complexity  of  thought ; 
so  eager  to  know  the  truth  and  apply  it  practically  to 
life ;  so  willing  to  search  into  the  deep  things  of  human 
philosophy  and  material  science  and  discover  new  rela¬ 
tionships,  adjustments  and  appliances  of  truth. 

Because  Joseph,  Moses,  Joshua,  Daniel,  David, 
Elijah,  John  the  Baptist,  Stephen  and  Paul  were  men 
singled  out  in  their  day  as  embodiments  of  God’s  Holy 
Spirit,  men  in  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelt,  they 
were  men  of  matchless  power.  Others  were  brilliant, 
individualistic,  scholarly,  efficient,  attractive,  magnani¬ 
mous.  But  these  great  leaders  whom  God  selected 
were  men  who  had  more  than  eminent,  or  pre-eminent, 
gifts  or  culture.  They  were  men  of  holy  life;  men 
whose  secret  strength  came  from  personal  contact  with 
the  Almighty;  men  of  whom  kings  and  peasantry  cried 
out :  “Can  we  find  such  a  man  as  this,  a  man  in  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  is?” 


184  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Moses  was  forced  to  flee  to  the  pinnacled  heights  of 
the  Sinai  wilderness ;  Joseph  was  sold  to  the  Ishmaelites 
by  his  angered  brothers ;  David  fled  from  cave  to  cave, 
pursued  by  an  envying  Saul ;  Stephen  sank  beneath  the 
stones  hurled  by  an  infuriated  religious  mob :  but  the 
world  knew  and  knows  that  these  men  were  men  of 
God’s  choice,  who  in  life  and  death  led  in  the  recon¬ 
struction  and  reorganisation  of  society — men  who 
turned  from  human  philosophy  to  divine  truth.  They 
were  men  of  power. 

The  last  great  promise  that  Christ  made  us,  when 
men  heard  His  words  as  they  came  from  lips  which  the 
eye  could  see,  was  the  promise  of  the  power  of  His 
Holy  Spirit  Who  would  come  and  remain  with  us,  in¬ 
struct,  comfort,  strengthen,  and  accomplish  for  and 
through  us.  This  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  be 
given  first  in  the  common-place  duties  of  life.  Those 
early  disciples  were  zealous  for  the  restoration  of 
Israel’s  great  kingdom.  Christ  calls  them  back  to  sim¬ 
plicity  in  service.  What  He  needed  was  witnessing. 
The  world  knew  Him  not.  Only  a  little  circle  under¬ 
stood  the  mission  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  be  theirs  that  they  should 
witness,  beginning  where  they  were,  in  Jerusalem; 
then  in  Judaea;  then  to  the  despised  and  neglected 
Samaritans;  then  even  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
world. 

From  the  study  of  our  subject  we  find  that  men  have 
felt  that  the  outpouring  of  God’s  Spirit  upon  a  com¬ 
munity  has  too  frequently  implied  a  great  and  extraor¬ 
dinary  movement — one  which  is  out  of  the  ordinary; 
unnatural,  extensive,  exceptional,  commanding — when 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  185 


the  presence  of  God’s  Spirit  should  be  the  natural  ex¬ 
pression  of  His  indwelling  power,  that  we  may  accom¬ 
plish  the  ordinary  tasks  of  life  with  faithful  regularity 
and  simplicity.  God  does  not  require  exceptional  gifts 
to  do  His  work  well.  Not  many  wise  or  mighty  men 
have  been  chosen.  Many  a  man  who  has  been  uncon¬ 
scious  of  gifts  has  been  used  of  God  in  the  hastening  of 
His  kingdom.  Ten  thousand  men  had  brighter  pros¬ 
pects,  and  more  brilliant  training  than  Bunyan  in  the 
Bedford  jail.  Spurgeon  and  Moody  were  not  youths 
of  such  remarkable  promise.  It  is  not  so  much  what  a 
man  is  without  the  Spirit  of  God  that  counts,  but  what 
a  man  becomes  when  the  Spirit  of  God  abides  within 
him,  and  God,  with  His  power,  uses  man  as  His 
medium. 

The  world  has  comparatively  few  extraordinary 
tasks  to  perform,  but  it  has  countless  ordinary  tasks. 
There  are  few  extraordinary  men,  but  the  world  is  filled 
with  ordinary  men  whom  God  can  use.  We  have  our 
tasks  and  problems,  our  perplexities  and  trials,  our 
dangers  and  distresses,  not  only  as  ministers  and  elders, 
not  only  within  our  own  parishes,  but  everywhere. 
But  the  people  are  willing  in  the  day  of  God’s  power, 
where  the  Holy  Spirit  leads  and  guides  the  individual 
or  church  life,  that  His  will  may  be  done  and  His  plan 
accomplished.  We  need  the  vision  of  the  Most  High. 
We  need  a  fuller  realisation  of  the  presence  of  our 
God  to  solve  the  problems,  local  and  general,  individual 
and  collective,  the  problems  within  the  local  church 
and  the  problems  within  the  church  at  large. 

‘‘What  do  you  do,’’  asked  one  of  our  citizens,  “when 
you  are  tired  and  worried  and  overcome  with  fatigue — 


186  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

when  the  problems  of  your  work  mount  up  before  you 
and  seem  to  cloud  the  day  and  rob  you  of  the  hours  of 
sleep?’’  “I  take  a  train  and  go  out  to  the  Rockies. 
When  I  see  those  great  mountain-peaks  with  their 
snow-capped  summits,  their  precipitous  rocky  sides,  and 
their  noble  ridges  and  peaks,  I  feel  the  very  majesty  of 
God  crying  out  to  me,  and  literally  ‘lift  up  my  eyes 
unto  the  hills,  from  whence  cometh  my  help.’  ” 

Well,  few  of  us  can  do  this.  The  mountains  are  far 
away.  But  the  great  ranges  of  divine  truth  are  near  at 
hand,  and  the  Divine  Guide  and  Friend  is  ever  present 
and  near,  and  the  power  of  the  Holy  One  is  with  us  in 
the  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  comfort  and  direct,  to 
poise  and  plan,  to  rest  and  strengthen  us.  In  Him  is 
the  source  of  all  strength  and  power,  filling  our  lives 
with  hope  and  joy  and  peace,  and  giving  to  us  in  our 
own  humble  sphere  the  actual  power  of  the  Almighty 
God,  Who  is  “infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable.” 

The  power  of  God’s  Holy  Spirit  means  a  hopeful 
ministry  and  a  joyful,  peaceful  life.  Paul  knew  what 
perplexities  and  problems  were,  and  when  he  closed  that 
letter  to  the  Roman  Church,  he  wrote:  “Now  the  God 
of  Hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing, 
that  ye  may  abound  in  hope,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.”  We  need  a  hopeful  ministry,  a  joy-filled  life, 
a  peace  which  means  poise,  an  abundant  and  abounding 
life  which  expresses  the  power  of  the  indwelling  Spirit 
of  God.  There  is  triumph  in  such  character;  there  is 
permanent  victory  in  such  faith.  Discouraged  men  fill 
life  with  fever  and  ague  and  pain,  with  anemia  and 
melancholia.  Men  and  churches  run  from  such  persons 
as  from  contagious  disease.  All  kinds  of  envy  and 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  187 


jealousy,  all  forms  of  gossip  and  littleness  find  ex¬ 
pression  in  such  lives.  They  become  friendless  and 
companionless.  Frequently  in  their  loneliness  they 
become  embittered  and  actually  forlorn.  They  even 
abhor  self-companionship.  Contrary  to  such  sad  ex¬ 
istence,  we  find  the  Spirit-filled  life,  with  the  fruit 
thereof  evident — “love,  joy,  peace,  long  suffering,  gen¬ 
tleness,  faith,  meekness,  self-control.”  The  God  of 
Hope  is  filling  the  life  “with  all  joy  and  peace  in  be¬ 
lieving.”  Positive  convictions  control  lives;  doubts  are 
scattered  to  the  four  winds ;  men  see  and  feel,  and  think 
and  act,  with  the  needs  of  others  in  view,  and  find  the 
joyful  meaning  of  life  in  service  for  others. 

The  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  manifesting  itself 
in  all  kinds  of  personal  victory;  things  which  would 
annoy  and  trouble  are  quickly  forgotten  and  over¬ 
looked  and  unmentioned.  The  power  of  God’s  Holy 
Spirit  is  personal  victory  every  day.  Men  believe  in 
their  fellowmen,  irrespective  of  weaknesses  and  blem¬ 
ishes  in  character.  We  do  not  lose  our  faith  in  men 
because  men  fall,  because  men  are  scoffers,  or  uncon¬ 
cerned,  or  inefficient.  The  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
gives  grace  as  well  as  faith.  We  read  of  Stephen: 
“He  was  a  man  filled  with  grace.”  He  could  pray  for 
those  who  stoned  him  to  death,  and  pray  with  a  smile ; 
thank  God  for  the  power  of  prayer,  as  he  prayed  for 
their  forgiveness. 

The  first  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love.  What  a  wonder¬ 
ful  definition  of  love  we  have  in  First  Corinthians, 
where  Paul  says : 

“Love  suffereth  long  and  is  kind;  love  envieth  not; 
love  vaunteth  not  itself ;  is  not  puffed  up, 


188  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

“Doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  seeketh  not  its 
own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil ; 

“Rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth, 

“Beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all 
things,  endureth  all  things. 

“Love  never  faileth;  but  whether  there  be  prophecies, 
they  shall  fail;  whether  there  be  tongues,  they  shall 
cease ;  whether  there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish  away. 

“For  we  know  in  part  and  we  prophesy  in  part ; 

“But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  that  which 
is  in  part  shall  be  done  away. 

“When  I  was  a  child  I  spake  as  a  child,  I  understood 
as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child ;  but  when  I  am  become  a 
man,  I  have  put  away  childish  things. 

“For  now  we  see  in  a  glass,  darkly;  but  then  face 
to  face;  now  I  know  in  part;  but  then  shall  I  know 
even  as  also  I  am  known. 

“And  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  love,  these  three;  but 
the  greatest  of  these  is  love. 

“Follow  after  love;  and  desire  spiritual  gifts,  but 
rather  that  ye  may  prophesy.” 

The  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  manifests  itself  in  a 
praying  church,  and  reveals  His  power  in  God’s  answers 
to  those  prayers.  We  talk  of  prayer;  wTe  believe  in 
prayer;  but,  do  we  represent  the  praying  church,  and 
are  we  known  as  men  of  prayer  ?  The  theory  of  prayer 
may  exist  without  its  practice.  We  may  believe  in 
prayer  and  talk  of  prayer  and  write  of  prayer — but  do 
we  pray?  Does  God  know  us  as  men  of  power  in 
prayer?  The  missionary  world  is  filled  to-day  with 
men  of  praying  power. 

Many  years  ago  at  Northfield,  when  conducting  a 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  189 


class  at  one  of  the  student  conferences,  I  rose  early 
that  I  might  prepare  my  work  fresh  each  morning. 
The  man  with  whom  I  stayed  was  a  missionary  in 
India — quiet,  unnoticed,  and  without  special  leadership 
in  the  conference.  Not  a  single  morning  did  I  rise 
without  finding  my  roommate  on  his  knees  before  an 
open  Bible.  All  the  experiences  of  that  conference,  the 
men  of  God  who  spoke,  the  earnest  addresses  delivered 
— all  have  gone  from  my  mind,  but  the  living  impres¬ 
sion  of  that  man  of  prayer  has  never  gone.  All  un¬ 
consciously,  he  influenced  my  belief  in  prayer  and  gave 
me  its  deeper  meaning. 

It  is  said  by  one  of  the  fellow-students  of  the  late 
William  Whiting  Borden  that  one  cold  morning  when  a 
number  of  them  as  students  were  away  together  and  oc¬ 
cupied  the  same  room,  one  of  the  number  arose,  think¬ 
ing  all  the  others  would  be  asleep.  There  he  saw  this 
student,  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  on  his  knees  before  God, 
pouring  out  his  heart  to  the  Almighty. 

Prayer  power  is  the  power  of  God’s  Holy  Spirit 
within  the  life.  Scores  of  the  problems  of  our  daily 
lives  and  parishes  would  cease  to  be  problems,  if  we 
knew  aright  the  throne  of  grace  and  realised  fully  that 
we  have  not  only  the  promise  of  Christ,  but  its  fulfil¬ 
ment,  for  we  are  living  in  the  day  of  power  of  God’s 
Holy  Spirit. 

What  a  marvellous  hold  we  have  with  the  whole 
world  through  this  power  of  prayer !  Missions  at 
home  and  abroad,  all  our  varied  church  and  world¬ 
wide  interests  may  be  taken  to  God,  and  every  problem 
solved,  as  we  pray,  “in  faith  believing.”  There  is  not  a 
single  problem  which  faces  our  General  Assembly  at 


190  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

this  time  which  may  not  be  solved  aright,  if  we  allow 
God  to  solve  them ;  if  we  are  willing  to  look  beyond  our 
own  plans,  and  realise  that  God  is  far  more  interested 
in  every  detail  of  our  work  than  we  can  be;  that  God  is 
willing  to  correct  any  error  and  regulate  all  workman¬ 
ship  ;  that  He  would  free  us  from  all  personalities  and 
judgments,  from  all  discriminations  and  prejudices, 
and  speak  to  us  in  the  living  power  of  His  own  truth, 
as  the  result  of  our  prayer-filled  lives. 

And  this  brings  us  to  another  conception  of  the 
power  of  God's  Holy  Spirit.  There  is  nothing  too 
great  for  Him  to  do.  We  are  believers  in  impossibili¬ 
ties.  He  glories  in  the  impossible.  He  shows  to  men 
the  utter  fallacy  of  their  own  working  as  He  Himself 
changes  the  plan  or  project  to  accomplish  a  greater 
end.  Quickly  He  removes  one  life  from  earth  to 
heaven,  or  transfers  one  upon  whom  the  world  depends 
to  another  field.  No  man  is  indispensable  to  Him,  for 
His  great  plans  work  out  with  wonderful  exactness 
and  superb  precision,  but  not  according  to  our  plans 
and  premises.  We  can  “do  all  things  through  Christ 
which  strengthened  us,”  for  the  power  of  God’s  Holy 
Spirit  is  ours ;  it  has  been  promised,  and  He  will  fulfil. 
True,  we  must  wait  and  expect  and  accept,  and  appro¬ 
priate,  but  the  presence  of  God  is  a  permanent  presence. 
His  greatness  is  a  patient  greatness.  He  is  reliable  and 
steadfast,  and  sure  and  unchanging. 

Our  text  again  makes  very  evident  the  fact  that  the 
power  of  God  is  not  an  acquisition  or  attainment,  but  a 
reception.  “Ye  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  come  upon  you.”  “Ye  shall  receive  power.” 
The  Almighty  is  the  giver ;  we  are  the  receivers.  His 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  191 


presence  commits  Him  to  His  task,  and  we  are  but  to 
receive  that  which  He  freely  gives.  He  will  work  in  us 
and  through  us,  and  with  us  and  by  us.  He  will  use 
our  lives,  our  gifts,  whatever  they  may  be,  our  failures, 
our  limitations,  for  His  glory. 

One  of  our  men  was  taken  sick  and  underwent  a 
serious  operation  in  one  of  our  large  Presbyterian 
hospitals.  Just  afterward  we  learned  that  two  or  three 
attendants  were  influenced  by  his  life,  and  that  one  of 
the  young  physicians  who  waited  upon  him  remarked 
that  his  life  had  given  him  a  new  purpose  and  new 
confidence  in  Christ.  The  power  of  God's  Spirit  means 
that  human  limitations  may  glorify  Him. 

When  the  renowned  Moon,  who  invented  the  recent 
method  of  finger-reading  for  the  blind,  was  told  that  he 
could  never  see  again,  he  fell  upon  his  knees  and 
thanked  God  for  the  limitation  of  blindness.  He  then 
gave  himself  to  the  study  and  realised  for  the  first 
time  the  countless  thousands  who  were  blind  who  could 
never  know  God’s  truth.  He  gave  his  inventive  mind 
so  completely  to  the  subject  that  he  discovered  this  new 
and  valuable  method.  It  is  said  that  thousands  have 
been  converted  as  a  result  of  his  work. 

The  power  of  God’s  spirit  within  our  lives  means 
vision.  “He  shall  guide  you  into  all  truth.”  What  a 
limitless  view  opens  before  us  as  we  climb  this  mountain 
of  faith;  valleys  of  which  we  never  dreamed;  expanses 
far  beyond  the  power  of  the  human  eye  to  see — these 
are  the  expanding  fields  of  faith  into  which  God  would 
lead  us.  The  souls  that  know  such  power  are  never 
tired,  no  matter  how  fatigued  the  body  may  be.  Like 
Arthur  Ewing  at  Allahabad,  they  see  the  future  of  a 


192  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

*  ft  ^ 

great  nation  won  for  Christ;  like  Keith  Falconer  in 
Arabia,  they  willingly  reject  the  offer  of  a  Cambridge 
professorship  that  they  may  speak  to  the  Mohammedan 
world.  Like  thousands  of  our  missionaries  and  pas¬ 
tors,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
may  be  telling  and  controlling  force,  which  means  hope 
and  joy  and  peace  in  painstaking  and  constant  service. 
Life  loses  itself  in  this  splendid  expression  of  devotion 
and  the  heart  is  happy  all  the  time. 

Lastly,  God’s  Spirit  means  complete  submission  and 
sacrifice.  A  month  or  two  ago  I  was  leaving  one  of 
the  cities  of  the  Northwest.  On  the  same  train  was 
one  of  our  loyal  missionaries,  Frank  Higgins,  the  lum¬ 
ber-jack.  He  had  met  with  an  accident  on  a  Western 
train  and  was  going  to  be  operated  upon.  One  of  his 
men  accompanied  us  to  the  station.  His  friend  had 
been  a  rough,  wicked  man  before  he  found  the  Master, 
but  is  now  living  in  the  daily  presence  of  God’s  Spirit. 
He  is  appropriating  the  power  which  is  transforming 
his  life.  Turning  to  his  injured  friend,  and  holding 
out  his  left  arm,  he  said :  “You  know  my  old  left  here. 
You  may  need  a  bit  of  bone,  or  blood,  or  flesh  or  skin. 
Anything  in  the  old  left  is  yours.”  Then  lifting  his 
right  arm,  he  said :  “Anything  in  my  old  right  is 
yours.  I’ll  just  stay  back  here  at  home  and  wait  for  a 
message,  and  the  minute  you  tell  me  to  come  I’ll  fly  to 
you.  Anything  I’ve  got  is  yours;  but  you  must  live 
and  you  must  have  strength  and  power.”  Across  the 
car,  all  unknown  to  them,  a  man  of  the  world  let  a 
newspaper  fall  over  his  face  and  Ks  eyes  were  filled 
with  tears.  In  the  moment  the  train  was  away,  but  I 
had  gained  a  vision  that  night  of  a  noble  soul  controlled 


THE  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  193 


by  God’s  Spirit,  whose  whole  life  had  been  given  to  the 
Almighty,  not  merely  a  dominating  influence  of  friend¬ 
ship  and  love,  but  a  desire  to  do  God’s  work  in  God’s 
way  with  his  body  and  being. 

Oh,  men  of  this  great  Church  of  ours,  which  we  all 
love,  let  us  be  dominated  and  controlled  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  that  God’s  power  may  work  within  us,  that  noth¬ 
ing  trivial  nor  small  may  turn  us  from  the  path  that 
God  has  planned  for  us.  There  are  nations  to  conquer 
for  Jesus  Christ.  There  are  problems  to  solve  with 
His  glorious  wisdom.  There  is  spiritual  development 
before  us  of  which  we  have  never  dreamed.  The  out¬ 
ward  temple  of  every  Church  of  Christ  is  secondary. 
The  indwelling  temple  of  God  is  the  important  one. 
We  may  hear  Him  speak  to  us  to-day :  “I  give  you  my 
power.” 

As  I  waited  and  prayed  for  a  conclusion  to  this 
message,  from  an  all-unexpected  source,  but  from  a 
man  of  God  who  leads  our  midnight  mission  in  this 
city,  came  this  message : 

“It  is  impressive  that  the  General  Assembly  meets 
on  Ascension  Day  and  continues  till  Pentecost.  In 
arbitrary  church  days  and  saints’  days  our  Church  is 
not  interested,  but  the  historic  anniversaries  are  dear  to 
all  believers.  May  these  ten  days  of  the  Assembly  be 
eternally  fruitful.” 

(Sermon  by  Dr.  Stone  as  retiring  Moderator  at  the  opening 
session  of  the  General  Assembly,  Chicago,  May  21,  1914.) 


XVIII 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE 

“Suffer  it  now :  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil 
all  righteousness.” — Matthew  3:15. 

Eighteen  years  after  His  boyhood  utterance  in  the 
Temple  at  Jerusalem,  we  hear  the, Saviour  speak  again., 
On  the  border  of  the  Judaean  desert,  upon  the  bank  of 
the  sacred  Jordan,  He  steps  out  from  the  shrubbery 
that  lines  the  stream  to  look  into  the  face  of  John  the 
Baptist,  who  is  baptising.  One  glance  is  enough.  John 
has  been  calling  the  multitude  to  repentance,  but  there 
is  no  need  of  repentance  here — this  face  is  sinless.  A9 
Jesus  stepped  to  the  Jordan  to  be  baptised,  John  would 
have  hindered  Him  saying:  “I  have  need  to  be  bap¬ 
tised  of  Thee,  and  comest  Thou  to  me?”  In  a  calm 
voice  of  controlling  command,  Jesus  replied:  “Suffer 
it  now :  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteous¬ 
ness/ ' 

In  His  rural  home  at  Nazareth,  He  had  long  been 

“subject  to  His  parents,”  ever  “growing  in  favor  with 

God  and  man.”  The  synagogue  had  been  His  house  of 

worship,  save  for  occasional  trips,  no  doubt,  to  the 

feast  at  Jerusalem,  where  thrice  each  year  the  great 

feasts  were  held.  That  beautiful  valley  upon  which 

Nazareth  looked  down  had  kept  Him  in  closest  touch 

194 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE 


195 


with  nature ;  His  daily  work  had  trained  Him  in  faith¬ 
ful  service ;  His  home  life  had  developed  the  quiet 
patience  of  His  character;  and  the  Old  Testament  had 
been  His  meditation  and  study.  He  had  lived  and 
thought  according  to  the  Law  and  the  Prophets.  The 
law-givers,  prophets  and  priests  of  old  had  inspired 
Him  with  holy  zeal  and  longing  anticipation.  From 
ancient  patriarch,  from  judge,  from  king,  He  had 
gained  enthusiasm  and  motive.  As  boyhood  grew  into 
youth,  and  youth  into  young  manhood,  His  earnest¬ 
ness  must  have  made  Him  restless  at  times  to  speak 
the  word  that  was  so  needed  to  reform  and  enlighten 
His  day.  He  saw  wickedness  in  high  places,  hypocrisy, 
injustice,  crime.  But  His  hour  was  not  yet  come.  He 
suffered  it.  Alone  with  His  God,  He  was  learning 
His  sweet  will,  and  the  peaceful  contentment  and 
obedience  of  His  life  was  speaking  with  irresistible 
force  to  all. 

His  young  manhood  had  now  ripened  and  He  felt  the 
inward  desire  to  face  the  great  problem  of  His  life. 
Wonderful  reports  were  coming  to  Nazareth  from  the 
great  wilderness  of  Judaea,  which  bordered  the  Jordan. 
A  strange  and  mighty  prophet  had  appeared,  who  spoke 
words  of  reproof  and  judgment.  He  warned  the  people 
to  repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  God  was  at  hand.  He 
told  them  to  “bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance.” 
All  Jerusalem  seemed  turning  out  to  hear  him.  Scribes, 
Pharisees,  publicans,  sinners — all  classes  and  kinds — 
not  only  from  the  city  but  from  the  country  round 
about,  were  flocking  to  the  Jordan  to  hear  this  man, 
dressed  in  camel’s  hair,  and  eating  the  food  of  the 
desert,  locusts  and  wild  honey. 


196  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

As  Jesus  in  secluded  Nazareth  heard  these  words, 
a  mighty  motive  seemed  to  thrill  His  whole  being.  It 
was  not  that  long-felt  craving  to  help  his  fellow-men 
more  widely,  but  a  soul-inspiring  vision  of  duty.  He 
had  gained  His  new  vision  of  life.  Youthful  purpose 
had  become  mature  service.  His  place  was  no  longer 
His  home  in  Nazareth;  even  the  dear  mother  and  the 
loved  ones  there  were  no  longer  His  special  care. 
With  the  sorrow  of  leave-taking  he  crosses  the  plain, 
and  seeks  the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  where  John  is 
baptising  and  preaching.  As  He  goes  on  His  jour¬ 
ney,  from  the  solitude  of  the  mountains  and  desert, 
He  gains  inspiration  step  by  step.  The  thirty  years 
of  quietness  are  about  to  speak.  His  training  is  com¬ 
plete,  and  in  His  own  humble  assurance  He  seeks  the 
new  prophet. 

John  the  Baptist  and  Jesus  were  cousins,  but  they 
had  probably  not  known  each  other  as  boys  and  young 
men.  It  is  doubtful  if  they  had  ever  met  in  recent 
years,  for  John  had  been  a  man  of  the  desert  and 
Jesus  had  lived  a  quiet  life  at  home.  John  did  not 
recognise  Him  as  a  relative,  nor  as  the  Messiah,  but 
with  a  keen  eye  and  exact  insight,  he  saw  at  once 
purity  and  sinlessness.  The  nature  that  could  see 
behind  the  pretended  professionalism  of  Scribe  and 
Pharisee,  saw  here  what  was  genuine.  The  tongue  that 
fearlessly  and  unsparingly  rebuked  them  as  a  “genera¬ 
tion  of  vipers,”  and  asked  them  “who  had  warned” 
them  “to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,”  bowed  in  utter 
humility  before  One,  Whose  pure  and  holy  life  silenced 
him,  save  to  say :  “I  have  need  to  be  baptised  of  Thee, 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE 


197 


and  comest  Thou  to  me?”  “Suffer  it  now,”  said 
Jesus.  These  two  men  now  incarnated  a  new  mission 
of  service  and  consecration. 

What  a  marvellous  Baptism  this  was. 

See  them  as  they  step  into  the  Jordan.  There  is  no 
confession  of  sin  in  this  baptism.  There  is  no  sin. 
John  is  baptising  with  water  the  One  Who  is  to  baptise 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire.  The  multitude  on 
either  bank  is  stilled  with  wonder  and  amazement. 
Who  is  this  Stranger?  His  very  face  attracts  and  wins. 

After  the  sacred  rite,  as  Jesus  same  up  from  the 
water,  the  “heavens  were  opened  unto  Him  and  He 
saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove,  and 
lighting  upon  Him,  and  lo !  a  voice  from  heaven,  say¬ 
ing,  ‘This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased.'  ”  Then  immediately,  Mark  tells  us,  “The 
Spirit  driveth  Him  into  the  wilderness.”  Then  His 
temptation. 

Our  text  reveals  the  complete  self-surrender  of  Jesus 
and  of  John.  The  nature  of  Jesus  actually  revolted 
against  sin ;  He  had  lived  those  thirty  years  in  abhor¬ 
rence  of  it.  The  baptism  of  John  meant  repentance 
and  confession  and  rejection  of  sin.  Jesus  knew  no 
sin.  Yet  He  was  willing  to  be  baptised  by  one  who 
knew  sin,  and  thereby  to  be  judged  by  a  sinning  multi¬ 
tude  as  one  who  also  was  a  sinner,  to  be  “numbered 
with  the  transgressors.”  Even  John  rebelled.  But 
Jesus  saw  beyond  the  present  event,  forgetful  of  self- 
righteousness  as  He  saw  the  sins  of  the  human  race. 
“Suffer  it”  was  His  word,  the  word  that  overcame  even 
the  scruples  of  the  Baptist.  Self  was  surrendered.  It 
was  the  same  spirit  which  led  Him  to  say  later,  “Never- 


198  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

theless,  not  my  will,  but  Thine.”  The  great  Divine  plan 
of  salvation  may  not  have  been  clearly  and  completely 
outlined  in  His  chaste  mind  at  this  time,  but  the  voice 
of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness  had  called  Him  from 
that  Nazareth  home  to  His  life  work.  Yet  there  was 
no  self-assertiveness. 

As  John  affirmed,  “I  have  need  to  be  baptised  of 
Thee,”  He  could  have  truthfully  asserted  Himself,  and 
the  words  of  this  prophet  would  have  been  verified,  for 
John  had  said  repeatedly,  “I  am  not  that  prophet.  I 
am  but  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,  ‘Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight/  There 
cometh  One  mightier  than  I;  I  am  not  worthy  to 
unloose  His  shoes.  He  shall  baptise  you  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  fire.”  But  no,  He  would  not  assert 
Himself.  This  was  not  His  Father’s  plan.  “Suffer  it 
now :  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteous¬ 
ness.”  Self  should  not  control :  He  was  surrendered 
unconditionally  to  the  Father’s  will.  He  had  come  to 
do  that  will,  and  His  whole  being  was  responsive. 

John’s  self-surrender  was  manifest  also.  The  simple 
word  of  Jesus  was  enough.  It  is  hard  for  a  true 
genuine  life  to  submit  silently  when  overestimated. 
Something  within  revolts.  The  propriety  of  fulfilling 
all  righteousness  was  the  explanation  with  which  Jesus 
turned  John’s  thoughts  from  self.  Self  had  little  hold 
on  this  hero  of  the  desert  at  best.  From  early  child¬ 
hood  he  had  denied  himself.  Sacrifice  had  become  his 
daily  soul-food.  His  body  he  had  kept  under.  But 
this  was  a  new  test.  He  did  not  know  Jesus  as  the 
Christ.  His  own  testimony  is,  “I  knew  Him  not,  but 
He  that  sent  me  to  baptise  with  water,  the  same  said 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE 


199 


unto  me,  ‘Upon  Whom  thou  shalt  see  the  Spirit 
descending,  and  remaining  on  Him,  the  same  is  He 
which  baptiseth  with  the  Holy  Ghost.’  And  I  saw  and 
bare  record  that  this  is  the  Son  of  God.” 

Before  that  divine  sign  had  been  given,  John  saw  the 
pure  sinless  face,  and  knew  that  this  was  no  subject  for 
baptism;  yet  at  His  command,  he  yielded.  Self  would 
not  assert  itself.  His  was  a  holy  life.  He  had  early 
learned  to  give  up.  Giving  up  self  is  always  a  remark¬ 
able  test  of  true  piety.  How  many  earnest  Christians 
have  never  learned  this  precious  lesson,  and  what  sad 
consequences  the  Church  has  suffered!  So  often  in  the 
midst  of  duty,  when  we  know  we  are  in  the  right,  the 
Nazar ene  says  softly,  “Suffer  it  now,”  but  we  hear  not, 
or  heed  not,  His  voice,  and  there  is  no  fulfilling  of 
righteousness,  no  heavenly  vision,  and  no  Father’s 
voice;  hence,  we  do  not  bear  record  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Could  we  but  learn  to  give  up  self  at  once  life’s  tests 
would  develop  our  character  and  we  would  control  con¬ 
ditions  for  God. 

Quickly  John  yielded;  yielded  against  that  which  he 
felt  must  be  right;  yielded  against  his  own  best  judg¬ 
ment, — but  in  yielding  became  a  part  of  God’s  all- 
glorious  plan,  and  received  in  that  very  hour  the  mani¬ 
festation  of  his  Messiah.  Self-surrender  is  no  mere 
happy  ideal,  but  must  be  a  daily,  hourly  reality  in  the 
life  of  every  one  of  us.  Giving  up  is  the  hardest  of  all 
our  Christian  duties;  but  what  results  would  come  if 
we  would  listen  to  the  Saviour’s  “Suffer  it  now.” 

The  “I  will’s”  and  “I  won’ts”  have  been  the  hidden 
rocks  that  have  wrecked  many  a  noble  vessel  on  life’s 
sea.  A  surrendered  life  is  a  life  where  self  is  lost  id 


200  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

service,  a  service  in  which  all  is  subject  to  the  sweet 
will  of  God — our  wills  lost  in  His. 

-  This  self-surrender  emphasises  the  important,  and 
leaves  the  unimportant.  Righteousness  must  be  ful¬ 
filled.  To  show  the  worthiness  of  Jesus  or  of  John  in 
this  symbol  of  baptism  was  not  comparable  in  impor¬ 
tance  to  the  fulfilling  of  righteousness.  Formality 
would  have  said,  ‘‘No,  I  will  not  baptise  Thee;  Thou 
must  baptise  me.”  But  formality  is  not  to  hold  first 
place.  Prophecy  would  have  been  broken.  There 
would  have  been  no  declaration.  The  multitudes  would 
have  been  confounded;  God’s  plan  would  not  have  been 
carried  out.  When  form  robs  worship  of  the  Saviour’s 
individual  word  and  direction,  then  the  Church  of  God 
is  robbed  of  power,  for  there  is  no  vision  and  no  assur¬ 
ance.  The  great  essentials  of  truth  must  never  give 
way  to  the  mere  technicalities  of  form,  no  matter  how 
beautiful  and  blessed  they  may  be.  This  applies  equally 
to  us  as  individuals.  How  often  we  lose  life’s  real 
worth  because  we  demand  that  which  may  be  proper 
and  right,  but  which  is  really  of  very  little  vital  im¬ 
portance.  There  was  something  far  greater  than  form 
or  ceremonial  here.  We  defend  and  demand  it  as  if 
without  it  life  would  not  be  worth  living,  and  all  the 
time  it  is  of  little  or  no  value.  We  refuse  to  comply 
with  certain  conditions  unless  minor  details  exactly 
suit  us.  Numerous  opportunities  for  development  and 
widened  friendship  go  by  default,  because  of  our 
deference  to  unimportant  customs,  or  our  fear  of 
slight  criticism.  The  function  of  state  which  would 
increase  our  influence  and  reveal  our  courteous  atten- 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE  201 

tion  is  not  attended  because  we  do  not  possess  a  new 
suit. 

The  force  of  our  own  inconsistency  in  this  particular 
is  repeatedly  seen  in  the  relationship  of  our  business 
to  the  home.  Many  a  man  is  so  eager  and  strenuous 
in  his  business  interests  that  his  home  holds  last  place 
in  his  practical  affections.  That  boy  of  yours  is  only 
a  child  now;  in  twenty  years  he  will  be  a  man  and  a 
citizen.  Business  so  absorbs  your  time  that  you  do  not 
know  what  he  is  reading,  with  whom  he  is  playing,  and 
little  or  nothing  about  the  school  which  he  attends  ;  to 
say  nothing  of  the  character  of  the  teachers  who  in¬ 
struct  him.  He  only  gets  an  occasional  glimpse  of  you, 
and  then  knows  you  as  one  who  exerts  parental  author¬ 
ity.  He  may  read  books  which  are  not  worthy  the 
name  of  literature.  We  ought  as  parents  to  know 
what  our  children  read,  and  with  whom  they  play. 

Tust  here  let  me  warn  you  that  that  realistic  school 
of  fiction  which  is  telling  us  to-day  that  it  is  necessary 
to  show  all  the  blackness  and  horrors  of  sin  to  the 
youth  that  he  may  guard  against  it,  is  not  only  a  false 
school,  but  is  dangerous  and  wicked  in  its  results.  The 
curious  and  eager  youth  longs  to  test  that  about  which 
he  reads,  and  through  the  influence  of  such  reading  he 
sees  life’s  day  under  a  cloud  and  in  a  storm,  instead  of 
gaining  the  inspiration  and  clear  vision  of  the  pure 
sunshine. 

Know  something,  then,  of  the  books  which  your  boy 
reads;  meet  his  playmates  and  take  a  few  hours  to  play 
with  them  if  possible,  and  thus  keep  the  boy  alive  in 
yourself.  Visit  his  school,  know  his  teacher,  and  let 


202  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

her  know  your  home.  This  will  emphasise  the  impor¬ 
tance  in  home  training;  for,  after  all,  if  by  making 
your  business  the  all-important  and  this  the  unimpor¬ 
tant,  you  leave  that  boy  even  millions  of  money,  and 
do  not  leave  him  character,  that  which  you  have  accu¬ 
mulated  for  him  will  probably  prove  his  ruin. 

It  may  be  impossible  for  you  to  attain  to  your  ideal 
in  the  large  and  complete  development  of  your  business, 
if  you  pay  proper  attention  to  your  home,  but  “suffer  it 
to  be  so  now.”  “Is  not  the  life  more  than  meat?  the 
body  than  raiment  ?”  Is  not  the  character  of  your  home 
and  child  the  fulfilment  of  righteousness,  which  is  most 
becoming  and  wise?  Is  not  quality  more  than  quan¬ 
tity  ?  What  your  boy  has  is  the  unimportant ;  what  he 
is,  the  important. 

Self-surrender  is  seen  also  in  Jesus’  desire  to  live  in 
harmony  with  God’s  entire  plan.  He  was  not  willing 
to  act  independently.  We  see  this  in  His  expression, 
“to  fulfil  all  righteousness.”  To  accomplish  this  He 
was  a  part  of  the  great  whole.  He  Who  is  all  in  all 
took  upon  Himself  the  form  of  a  servant ;  the  One  who 
was  to  work  out  the  salvation  of  all  men  in  His  own 
personal  sacrifice  and  that  others  might  do  their  part. 
He  did  not  say  to  John,  “It  becometh  me  to  fulfil  all 
righteousness,”  but,  “It  becometh  us.”  He  would  work 
with  others.  He  would  have  John  feel  that  his  work 
was  ended  relatively  when  the  Holy  Spirit  manifested 
to  him  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus. 

During  those  weeks  of  trial  which  followed,  and  in 
the  silent,  patient  suffering  of  that  lonely  prison,  he  was 
comforted  in  the  consciousness  of  this  very  fact,  that 
all  was  a  part  of  God’s  plan.  Together  with  Jesus,  he 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE 


208 


was  still  “fulfilling  all  righteousness/’  although  Jesus 
was  now  preaching  repentance,  and  his  own  voice  was 
silenced.  Co-operation  is  God’s  rule,  not  monopoly; 
interdenominationalism,  not  sectarianism.  Christian 
loyalty  has  no  narrow  definition,  for  the  God  Who  loves 
us,  and  the  denomination  in  which  we  worship,  loves 
the  world. 

The  self-surrender  of  Jesus  led  Him  to  conform  to 
the  unnecessary,  because  He  saw  the  necessity  of  others. 
By  so  doing,  He  affirmed  the  power  of  example.  Why 
should  the  Pure  One  be  baptised?  Why?  Because  He 
remembered  the  prophetic  words  of  the  holy  Isaiah, 
“Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together— -though  your 
sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow; 
though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool.” 

He  began  to  do  and  to  teach.  The  public  confession 
has  always  been  an  offence  to  some  Christians.  “Why 
unite  with  the  Church  of  Christ?  There  are  other 
ways  of  confessing  Him.  My  life  is  consistent;  the 
Golden  Rule  has  become  my  rule  of  living;  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  my  daily  precept  and  practice.  Very  many 
within  the  Church  have  no  such  standard,  and  are  in¬ 
considerate  and  careless.”  All  this  is  undoubtedly  true, 
and  yet  no  life  to-day  can  consider  itself  consistent  or 
pure  when  paralleled  with  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  He 
let  John  baptise  Him.  “I  have  need  to  be  baptised  of 
Thee,  and  comest  Thou  to  me?”  “Suffer  it,”  was  the 
response,  “it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness.” 
The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  divine  institution.  By 
confessing  Him  and  uniting  with  His  Church,  we 
admit  our  own  unworthiness  and  His  all-sufficient  re¬ 
demptive  love.  It  is  not  our  mission  or  privilege  to 


204  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

judge  others,  the  hypocrite  came  even  to  the  baptism  of 
John,  but  his  attitude  and  inconsistency  had  no  infim 
ence  in  deterring  Jesus  from  fulfilling  all  righteousness. 
For  Him  to  have  stood  apart  would  have  turned  the 
attention  of  men  from  the  theme  of  John,  “Repent  and 
be  baptised,”  and  countless  ones  who  needed  this  teach¬ 
ing  and  confession  would  have  continued  in  unrepented 
sin.  The  responsibility  of  a  Christian  man  is  not 
simply  that  of  the  deed  which  he  performs,  but  of  the 
attitude  which  he  assumes  to  Christian  institutions  and 
customs.  Example  is  not  alone  related  to  the  negative 
command,  “Thou  shalt  not,”  as  seen  in  those  words, 
“If  meat  cause  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat  no 
meat,”  for  Christ’s  word  and  example  were  positive, 
“Suffer  it  ...  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteous¬ 
ness.” 

We  see  the  result  of  the  self-surrender  in  the  vision 
seen  by  Jesus  and  John  alone.  As  Jesus  faced  the  fiery 
temptation  of  the  wilderness  immediately  after,  and  as 
John  went  on  in  his  wonderful  preaching  until  the 
usurping  power  of  a  sinful  monarch  imprisoned  him, 
how  constantly  they  saw  again  the  spiritual  vision 
which  revealed  Christ’s  deity!  Hear  John  as  he  speaks 
to  those  early  apostles:  “Behold  the  Lamb  of  God 
which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world!”  To  hear 
him  speak  was  to  heed  him,  for  we  read :  “They  heard 
him  speak  and  followed  Jesus.” 

The  Christian  with  the  soul-vision  of  the  Christ  has 
a  power  which  the  world  cannot  have.  Intellectuality, 
scholarship,  genius,  marvel  at  the  simplicity  of  this 
gift.  It  wins,  it  draws,  it  converts. 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE 


205 


“Like  some  bright  dream  that  comes  unsought, 

When  slumbers  o’er  me  roll, 

Thine  image  ever  fills  my  thought, 

And  cheers  my  ravished  soul.” 

From  this  time  on  John  verified  his  words.  “He 
must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease.”  But  the  decrease 
of  John  meant  not  only  the  increase  of  Christ,  but 
John’s  increased  vision  of  the  Christ.  Self-surrender 
was  like  the  closing  of  John’s  eyes  upon  the  things  of 
self,  only  that  he  might  open  them  upon  the  realities  of 
Jesus  Christ  his  Messiah. 

The  words  of  our  text  teach  us  finally  most  forcibly 
that  the  life  of  self-surrender  ultimately  results  in  the 
right  adjustment  of  all  things.  Christ's  word  “now,” 
“suffer  it  now,”  suggests  or  implies  a  temporary  con¬ 
dition.  The  “now”  points  to  a  “then.”  How  closely 
related  are  those  words  of  Paul,  “Now  we  see  through 
a  glass  darkly,  but  even  face  to  face ;  now  we  know  in 
part,  then  we  shall  know  even  as  also  we  are  known.” 

What  wonderful  characters  stand  before  us  in  the 
“now.”  Jesus  the  Christ  and  John  the  Baptist,  the  one 
of  whom  Christ  said,  “None  greater  is  born  of  women,” 
but  these  were  the  temporary  days;  this  the  temporary 
scene;  this  the  “now.”  Christ’s  eternal  “then”  is 
heaven;  the  real  life  of  John  the  Baptist,  a  life  for 
eternity.  The  “then”  of  our  lives  was  a  synonym  of 
forever. 

Considering  this,  is  it  strange  that  the  quiet  voice  of 
the  Master  replied  to  John,  “Never  mind  for  now; 
permit  this  sacred  rite  to  be  carried  out ;  I  do  not  ques¬ 
tion  your  right  or  justice  in  the  matter,  but  give  up, 
‘suffer  it  now.’  The  present  arrangement  is  in  accord 


206  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

with  my  Father’s  plan,  and  by  conforming  together  we 
fulfil  the  righteous  judgment  of  His  will.” 

John  did  not  discuss  the  matter.  Why  should  we  fill 
our  hearts  and  minds  with  unprofitable  discussion  as 
to  life’s  rights  and  wrongs;  life’s  failures  or  successes; 
the  mysteries  of  an  unseen  Hand?  Why  fret  over  the 
uneven  distribution  of  wealth;  the  sudden  disaster,  or 
the  misplaced  confidence?  All  this  is  the  “now”  of  life. 
“Suffer  it,”  the  adjustment  is  sure  and  absolute.  “All 
things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God.” 

The  life  surrendered  to  His  will  may  see  to-day 
nothing  but  disorder  and  confusion,  but  a  never-erring 
Hand  is  guiding  and  will  transform  this  chaos  into 
order. 

“Careless  seems  the  great  avenger. 

History’s  pages  but  record 
One  death  grapple  in  the  darkness 
’Twixt  old  systems  and  the  Word; 

Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold, 

Wrong  forever  on  the  throne, 

Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future 
And  behind  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow 
Keeping  watch  above  His  own.” 

The  story  is  told  of  a  little  lad  who  had  just  learned 
his  letters.  His  father  overheard  him  praying  as  he 
kneeled  by  his  little  bed.  After  asking  God  to  hear 
him,  he  began  going  over  his  letters,  “A,  B,  C,  D,”  and 
then  quietly  closed  his  prayer.  The  father  asked  him 
what  he  meant,  and  the  response  quickly  came,  “I  don’t 
know  just  what  I  want,  but  God  knows,  and  He  will 


THE  SUBMISSIVE  LIFE  207 

put  the  letters  together,  for  He  knows  me  and  every¬ 
thing.” 

What  a  picture  of  simple  faith  and  divine  adjust¬ 
ment!  We,  too,  are  little  children.  All  life’s  experi¬ 
ences  are  but  the  alphabet  of  the  great  realities  of 
eternal  language.  “Except  ye  be  converted  and  become 
as  little  children,”  .  .  . 

Let  us  leave  then  the  spelling  out  of  life’s  great 
eternal  plan  to  Him  Who  knows  everything  and  every 
one.  We  misspell  and  misquote  and  disarrange.  But 
this  is  the  “now,”  His  final  adjustment  will  correct.; 
Thus  the  self-adjustment  will  be  correct.  Thus  the 
self-surrendered  life  is  the  simple  life,  the  quiet,  truth¬ 
ful  life,  perchance  the  lonely  life;  but,  “suffer  it  to  be 
so  now :  for  so  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteous¬ 
ness.” 


XIX 


FAITH  ESTABLISHED 

“That  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of 
men,  but  in  the  power  of  God.” — I  Corinthians  2 15. 

The  text  of  our  thought  this  morning  is  in  the 
Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Church  of  Corinth,  second  chap¬ 
ter,  fifth  verse.  We  cannot  have  an  objective  service 
in  this  world  unless  we  have  a  subjective  faith.  There 
cannot  be  a  general  truth  recognised  by  the  general 
public,  unless  there  is  a  specific  leader  and  an  indi¬ 
vidual  who  incarnates  that  truth. 

One  of  the  great  difficulties  which  modern  thought  is 
seeking  to  solve  is  this  subtle  so-called  philosophy  which 
is  undermining  the  individual  in  leadership,  and  is 
seeking  to  make  goodness  a  cult  instead  of  a  being. 

Goodness  is  God.  There  is  no  goodness  without 
God.  There  is  no  virtue  unless  some  one  is  virtuous. 
There  is  no  character  unless  there  is  an  individual. 
There  is  no  faith  without  a  being.  Paul  did  not  say, 
“I  know  what  I  believe/’  A  great  many  times  he  did 
not  know  what  he  believed,  but  he  said,  “I  know  whom 
I  have  believed,”  and  the  whom  led  him  to  the  what. 

The  love  of  wisdom  is  the  love  of  the  author  of 
wisdom.  “The  fear  of  the  Lord  (that  word  fear  has 
the  essence  of  worship  in  it)  is  the  beginning  of  wis¬ 
dom.”  Without  God  we  cannot  know  the  “what.”  The 

208 


* 


FAITH  ESTABLISHED 


209 


philosophy  of  life  must  centre  in  the  embodiment  of 
life.  “In  Him  was  life  and  the  life  was  the  light  of 
men.”  “The  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among 
us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only 
begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth.” 

A  religion  without  a  life  is  a  body  without  a  spine ;  a 
heart  without  a  brain.  There  must  be  life  and  “In  Him 
was  life.” 

There  is  great  need  of  a  return  to  this  truth,  a  re¬ 
establishment  of  faith  in  the  Infinite  God,  and  as  we 
have  faith  in  Him  we  will  have  faith  in  that  which  He 
represents  and  incarnates,  and  we  will  have  faith  in 
Him  who  became  man  that  He  might  reveal  God,  for 
“He  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld 
his  glory.” 

Our  text  is  the  thought  of  a  great  philosopher,  for 
Paul  with  all  his  practical  interpretation  of  life  was  a 
man  who  thought  far  and  thought  deeply.  There  was 
no  surface  thinking  in  Paul's  life.  He  had  been  a 
follower  of  Jehovah,  but  not  a  follower  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  He  did  all  he  could  to  destroy  the  influence 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  until  on  that  Damascus  Highway 
he  was  arrested  in  his  course  and  led  to  know  Christ. 

But  Paul  was  always  a  good  man.  Paul  was  always 
a  God-man.  He  said,  “I  have  lived  in  all  good  con¬ 
science  before  God  until  this  day,”  and  the  man  who 
knew  God  was  the  man  who  saw  God  revealed  in 
Christ.  He  said,  “My  prayer  is  that  your  faith  should 
not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men  but  in  the  power  of 
God.”  “When  in  the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by 
wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolish¬ 
ness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe.”  Now  that 


210  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

is  quoted  a  good  many  times  this  way :  “When  in  the 
wisdom  of  men  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  it 
pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save 
them  that  believe.’ ’  This  is  a  popular  misquotation  of 
scripture,  and  I  have  heard  ministers  of  the  Gospel  use 
it  and  have  seen  it  in  print,  but  it  is  wrong.  “When  in 
the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God.” 

Now  man’s  wisdom  would  have  let  men  find  God  by 
human  wisdom,  and  it  does  so  to-day,  and  seeks  to  lead 
men  to  God  by  human  wisdom,  but  it  utterly  fails. 
Sometimes  it  lasts  a  generation;  sometimes  more,  but 
not  long.  It  has  none  of  that  promoting,  propagating 
power  which  extends  from  generation  to  generation. 

The  test  of  a  great  faith  is  that  it  is  reproducing. 
One  of  our  great  scientists  when  asked  to  define  life 
said:  “Life  is  that  which  has  the  power  of  reproduc¬ 
tion  within  itself.”  A  great  faith  has  the  same  condi¬ 
tion,  and  a  faith  which  is  man-born  does  not  last,  and 
oh,  how  foolish,  “like  sheep  going  astray,”  a  great 
share  of  the  world  has  been  in  this  very  error !  People 
have  sought  to  follow  man-devised  faith.  “When  in 
the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God, 
it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save 
them  that  believe.” 

Now  why?  The  moment  an  individual,  a  human, 
has  a  sense  of  his  own  knowledge  and  the  worth  of  that 
knowledge,  he  becomes  self -dependable  upon  his  own 
thinking.  He  begins  to  be  an  egotist.  The  less  we 
know  about  a  subject,  the  more  proud  we  are  of  our 
knowledge.  The  more  we  know,  the  more  humble  we 
become.  A  lad  in  his  first  year  in  college  on  a  certain 


FAITH  ESTABLISHED 


211 


spring  morning,  when  he  goes  out  and  fills  his  lungs 
and  looks  at  the  growing  verdure  about  him,  may  say 
to  himself — “What  a  wonderful  thing  to  be  educated,” 
but  a  humble  man  will  go  out  and  look  at  the  ant  at 
his  feet  and  say,  “How  like  the  ant  I  am  in  the  incom¬ 
prehensibility  of  great  truths.”  The  best  men  in  the 
world  have  been  the  men  who  did  not  think  they  were 
good.  Paul  said  he  was  the  chiefest  of  sinners,  but  we 
know  he  really  was  not ;  but,  some  one  who  does  not 
touch  the  hem  of  his  garment  in  character,  says :  “Be¬ 
hold,  I  have  attained  perfection.” 

This  is  not  mere  cynicism ;  it  is  a  recognised  fact 
that  the  more  we  know  humanly,  the  more  egotistical 
we  become,  and  the  more  satisfied  with  self.  The  less 
we  know,  the  more  we  seem  to  know.  The  more  we 
know,  the  less  we  know  we  know.  It  takes  a  great 
mind  and  a  great  man  to  realise  how  little  the  scope 
of  his  own  knowledge  and  piety  may  be. 

Now,  if  it  depended  upon  our  own  knowledge  and 
character,  we  would  become  profound  egotists,  and  the 
world  would  follow  the  man  who  could  demonstrate 
that  he  knew  the  most  and  was  the  best.  But,  wisdom 
goes  farther.  Wisdom  is  not  mere  knowledge.  Who 
wants  to  live  with  a  walking  encyclopedia?  What 
college  chair  to-day  wants  a  professor  who  simply  is  an 
authority  and  nothing  else?  Wisdom  is  acting  knowl¬ 
edge,  and  knowledge  acting  aright.  Wisdom  is  the 
human  expression  of  knowledge  in  the  worthy  service 
of  to-day.  “The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom.”  “But  when  in  the  wisdom  (the  acting 
knowledge)  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 


212 


PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to 
save  them  that  believe.” 

What  is  the  foolishness  of  preaching?  The  mere 
repetition  of  a  story?  Yes,  the  story  of  a  Life;  the 
story  of  a  sacrifice;  the  story  of  a  holy  emotion  which 
becomes  the  incarnation  of  purity,  of  sacrifice  and 
love,  hence  devotion  itself,  and  in  the  preaching  of  that 
Gospel  men  find  God!  and  finding  God  they  know  the 
truth!  and  knowing  the  truth,  they  live  the  life  of 
truth  and  become  men  of  power;  hence,  we  cannot 
demonstrate  in  the  wisdom  of  man,  but  in  the  power  of 
God. 

Now  we  know  that  human  ability  and  human  power 
do  not  always  go  together.  A  man  may  have  superb 
power  of  human  thought  in  his  own  comprehension, 
and  still  have  very  little  with  his  fellow-men.  Power 
and  ability  are  not  synonyms,  but  where  a  great  truth 
dominates  a  life  it  makes  that  life  great.  The  world 
may  laugh  at  first,  but  the  world  will  not  continue  to 
laugh. 

A  great  scientific  weekly  spoke  of  the  absurdity  in 
such  a  theory  as  flying  in  the  air,  but  that  was  thirty 
years  ago.  Men  have  been  hissed  from  the  stage  of  life 
because  of  their  ambition  for  a  great  truth,  and  men 
have  laughed,  but  that  great  truth  has  frequently  at¬ 
tained.  Belief  has  controlled  this  world ;  it  creates 
faith  and  makes  men  what  they  are.  This  church  is 
not  merely  a  church  of  religious  devotion,  unless  it  is  a 
church  of  a  living  faith. 

There  is  no  religious  faith  that  is  worth  its  definition 
to-day  that  does  not  solve  the  great  problems  of  God’s 
undying  love  as  it  is  related  to  His  omnipotent  justice. 


FAITH  ESTABLISHED 


213 

“Be  sure  your  sins  will  find  you  out.”  “The  soul  that 
sinneth  it  shall  die.”  The  condemnation  of  evil  alone 
can  prepare  the  way  for  a  salvation  based  on  love  and 
forgiveness.  A  philosophy  of  love  that  leaves  out 
God's  justice  is  a  dishonour.  There  is  no  faith  in  the 
fatherhood  of  God  save  in  the  realisation  of  God’s 
undying  divine  love.  The  greatness  of  this  truth  drives 
the  man  of  egotism  and  mere  intellectuality  away  from 
God.  “When  in  the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by 
wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolish¬ 
ness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe.” 

It  is  the  sublime  element  that  saves,  because  it  sees 
and  knows  the  sacrifice  that  must  be  made  in  atone¬ 
ment  for  sin.  It  satisfies  the  justice  of  God  by  the 
sacrifice  of  One  who  has  paid  the  price  of  sin.  That  is 
the  meaning  of  the  Cross. 

In  a  single  word  let  us  summarise  and  get  this  truth. 
We  need  to-day,  as  much  as  we  have  ever  needed 
before,  the  faith  that  stands  in  the  power  of  God  instead 
of  in  the  wisdom  of  man.  We  need  the  re-establish¬ 
ment  of  the  faith  of  our  fathers.  Everywhere  we  read 
— whether  in  the  secular  press  or  in  the  so-called 
religious  press  (there  is  no  secular  nor  religious  as 
Kingsley  has  so  well  said)  ;  whether  men  are  writing 
in  Paris  or  in  Belgium,  in  London  or  in  Pekin — that 
what  the  world  needs  and  must  have  to-day  is  a  wisdom 
of  God  which  comes  from  the  saving  power  of  Jesus 
Christ.  A  great  Buddhist  teacher  has  just  said  this : 
“Our  own  religion  has  utterly  failed  to  solve  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  the  bleeding  heart.”  The  world  needs  a  faith 
re-established  which  is  demonstrating  itself  in  the 
power  of  God,  as  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ. 


214  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

A  friend  recently  wrote  from  one  of  the  great  cities 
of  the  world :  “When  I  walk  through  the  avenues  and 
streets  of  this  great  city,  I  see  a  great  hunger  and  a 
great  anguish  for  something  that  is  stable  and  sure.” 
Yes,  the  world  to-day  needs  the  faith  that  is  incarnated 
in  a  life — the  life  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  preaching 
of  the  Cross  may  be  to  the  mere  scholastic  “foolish¬ 
ness,”  but  unto  those  who  are  saved,  it  is  the  power  of 
God.  That  verse  means  more  than  unto  the  “saved.” 
It  is  translated  “those  who  are  being  saved” — not  the 
accomplished  fact,  the  present  action.  It  is  a  present 
salvation;  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  a  present 
salvation. 

It  all  means  that  this  old  world  needs  Christ.  Chris¬ 
tianity  has  too  often  taken  the  place  of  Christ;  the 
church  has  too  often  taken  the  place  of  religion.  What 
the  world  needs  is  the  Christ,  the  Cross,  Salvation,  and 
a  Faith  which  can  say  what  Paul  wrote  in  his  letter  to 
Corinth,  not  only,  that  “Your  faith  should  not  stand  in 
the  wisdom  of  man,  but  in  the  power  of  God;”  but  say 
as  well,  “I  know  whom  I  have  believed,”  and  I  am  will¬ 
ing  to  commit  unto  Him  the  present  and  the  future,  and 
to  live  and  champion  His  life,  as  I  incarnate  and  estab¬ 
lish  faith  in  Him. 

My  dear  people,  we  are  to  meet  later  this  morning  at 
the  Communion  Table  of  our  Lord.  Why?  That  we 
may  see  again,  and  feel  again,  and  know  again  the 
power  of  God  in  our  very  lives.  This  is  not  in  the 
wisdom  of  men.  “The  fear  of  Jehovah  is  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  wisdom.”  Let  us  sit  at  His  feet  and  learn  of 
Him  that  we  may  be  able  to  live  and  serve  in  the  power 
of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 


XX 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW* 

“The  latter  glory  of  this  house  shall  be  greater 
than  the  former,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts;  and  in  this 
place  will  I  give  peace.” — Haggai  2  :g. 

“Only  be  strong  and  very  courageous,  to  observe  to 
do  according  to  all  the  law,  which  Moses,  my  servant, 
commanded  thee ;  turn  not  from  it  to  the  right  hand 
or  to  the  left,  that  thou  mayest  have  good  success 
whithersoever  thou  goest.” — Joshua  2:7. 

Our  theme  this  morning  is  “Yesterday,  To-day  and 
To-morrow.”  The  references  in  the  Old  Testament 
signify  that  prophecy  means  peace,  and  that  God’s 
voice  in  admonition  means  command.  Thus  prophecy 
and  command  are  closely  related  to  peace  and  blessing. 

Eight  great  subjects  are  suggested  in  our  two  texts: 
Memory  associated  with  blessing  and  peace;  then  we 
see  strength ,  then  courage,  then  obedience,  then  faith¬ 
fulness,  and  all  crowned  with  success.  “The  latter 
glory  of  this  house  shall  be  greater  than  the  former, 
and  in  this  place  will  I  give  peace.”  “Only  be  strong 
and  of  good  courage,  yes,  very  courageous,  to  observe 
to  do  according  to  all  the  law  which  Moses,  my  servant, 
commanded  thee ;  turn  not  from  it  to  the  right  hand  or 
to  the  left,  that  thou  mayest  have  good  success  whither¬ 
soever  thou  goest.” 

*  (Fiftieth  Anniversary  Sermon,  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church, 
Sunday  morning,  February  13,  1921.)  1 

215 


216  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

It  is  not  enough  to  associate  the  past  with  the  per¬ 
sonal  or  even  the  general  experiences  to  which  our 
minds  revert  at  such  a  time  as  this.  Our  heritage  is  not 
a  museum,  neither  a  mere  accumulation ;  nor  is  it  sim¬ 
ply  past  deeds,  nor  hallowed  associations.  True  mem¬ 
ory  has  to  do  with  influences  which  have  been,  and  as 
we  look  back  we  realise  that  “others  have  laboured  and 
we  have  entered  into  their  labours.” 

On  such  an  occasion  as  this  there  are  many  reasons 
why  we  should  give  our  time  almost  exclusively  to  the 
associations  of  the  past,  but  Dr.  McClure  has  accepted 
for  this  afternoon  the  privilege  and  responsibility  of 
thus  associating  us  in  memory  with  the  past. 

There  is  also  in  our  hearts  at  such  a  time  an  appre¬ 
ciation  of  the  continued  blessings  of  God,  for  “Paul 
may  plant  and  Apollos  water,  but  God  must  give  the 
increase.”  “Except  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they 
labour  in  vain  who  build  it.”  The  blessings  of  God,  as 
He  has  attended  this  house  and  this  society  and  the 
church’s  organisation  throughout  these  fifty  years,  have 
been  recognised,  and  have  been  known,  not  perhaps 
estimated  by  the  cold  statistics  of  figures,  or  valued 
fully  at  all  times  during  the  process  of  our  develop¬ 
ment,  but  as  we  look  back  we  say  the  blessings  of  God 
have  been  upon  us,  and  these  hallowed  memories  are 
associated  with  the  consciousness,  as  well  as  the  record, 
of  God’s  blessing,  hence  we  are  at  peace. 

The  God  who  has  sustained  will  sustain.  No  matter 
what  the  anxiety  of  life  may  be,  the  consciousness  that 
the  God  of  all  this  earth  is  looking  down  upon  His 
church  to  bless,  strengthen,  comfort  and  develop  is 
ours,  and  we  are  at  peace. 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  217 

The  characteristics  which  grow  out  of  these  facts 
are  worthy  also  of  our  thought.  There  are  four : 
Strength,  Courage,  Faithfulness,  Success. 

God  gave  His  people,  through  Moses,  the  law  which 
they  were  to  obey,  and  from  which  they  were  not  to 
swerve  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left  in  their  exact 
faithfulness  in  adhering  thereto. 

If  then  the  memories  of  the  hour  give  to  us  increas¬ 
ingly  a  consciousness  of  God’s  blessing,  resulting  in 
peace,  we  should  cherish  as  well  these  four  admonitions 
which  God  has  given  to  us. 

We  are  to  be  strong;  we  are  to  be  courageous  (and 
such  courage  means  to  “attempt  great  things  for  God,” 
realising  His  faith  in  us  as  far  greater  than  our  faith 
in  Him),  and  with  this  courage  which  is  not  daunted 
by  new  enterprise,  nor  new  endeavour,  we  should 
realise  that  obedience  must  result,  for  obeying  His  law 
must  be  the  fundamental  principle  of  our  faithfulness. 
We  err  at  times  to  think  that  God’s  blessing  and  His 
peace  can  attend  the  people  of  this  age  if  He  is  not  in 
their  enthusiasm;  if  His  strength  of  personality  is  not 
in  their  courage  of  enterprise.  They  forget  that  obe¬ 
dience  to  God’s  law  is  primary,  and  faithful  obedience. 
No  substitute  for  religion  which  disregards  the  laws  of 
God,  the  fundamental  principles  of  righteousness,  can 
ever  receive  God’s  recognition  and  His  peace  and  bless- 

•  yj 

mgs. 

Religion  is  not  the  expression  of  man’s  desire  toward 
God.  It  is  the  will  of  man  to  carry  out  the  purpose 
and  law  of  God.  It  is  the  law  of  God;  it  is  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  truth ;  it  is  the  morality  that  accepts  the  true 
and  loyal  development  of  the  home  and  the  vows 


218  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

thereof.  It  is  the  recognition  of  God’s  law  in  the  spirit 
of  reverence  and  worship,  that  honours  God’s  day  as  a 
day  to  be  preserved  for  the  worship  of  the  Almighty 
as  the  race  worships  the  Divine  God,  and  only  can  God 
honour  the  people  with  blessings,  when  such  obedience 
is  a  matter  of  faithfulness. 

This  leads  to  success — the  success  of  God,  the  success 
which  is  permanent,  and  every  man  must  choose  for 
himself. 

“To  every  man  there  openeth 
A  way,  and  ways  and  a  way, 

And  the  high  soul  climbs  the  high  way 
And  the  low  soul  gropes  the  low, 

And  in  between,  on  the  misty  flats, 

The  rest  drift  to  and  fro; 

But  to  every  man  there  openeth 
A  high  way  and  a  low. 

And  every  man  decideth 
The  way  his  soul  shall  go.” 

And  God  has  given  to  us  this  law  of  love  which  with 
strength  and  courage  and  faithfulness  leads  to  the 
success  on  the  high  way  which  is  God’s  way — the  way 
of  vision  and  future  blessing. 

It  would  not  be  right  for  us  this  morning  to  take 
time  for  the  mere  figures  of  reminiscence  or  statistics 
of  success.  They  sometimes  speak  other  than  the 
truth.  Statistics  do  not  always  reveal  the  exact  con¬ 
dition.  It  is  not  wise  for  us  to  repeat  a  large  number 
of  them  to  which  you  would  listen  patiently  and  forget 
immediately,  but  it  is  enough  to  say  that  God  has 
signally  remembered  this  church  throughout  the  years. 
Fifty,  more  or  less,  have  entered  into  Christian  min¬ 
istry.  About  the  same  number  have  gone  into  mission- 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  219 

ary  work,  abroad  and  at  home.  We  cannot  give  the 
exact  figures,  for  in  many  instances  they  have  been 
related  with  us  to  student  life.  Of  the  thousands  of 
men  and  women  who  have  united  with  this  church 
upon  confession  of  faith  and  by  letter,  some  have  gone 
to  almost  every  country,  either  in  some  form  of 
Christian  service  or  in  matters  of  business  enterprise 
or  educational  work.  Our  sons  and  daughters  have 
gone  to  every  state  in  the  Union,  especially  centring 
in  the  great  west  and  far  west.  We  have  heard  from 
many  of  them  at  this  time,  expressing  the  joy  they 
have  felt  in  this  anniversary.  We  cannot  read  these 
letters  without  realising  that  a  greater  number  of 
unwritten  letters  and  unspoken  greetings  come  from 
the  hearts  of  those  who  have  worshipped  here.  The 
record  of  the  many  faithful  men  and  women  who  have 
made  this  church  what  it  has  become  has  been  care¬ 
fully  brought  to  our  memory  during  the  many  meet¬ 
ings  of  this  past  week,  and  will  be  a  matter  of  record 
in  the  Fourth  Church  monthly  publication  for  Feb¬ 
ruary. 

It  would  be  wrong  for  us,  with  the  vast  number,  to 
call  especial  attention  even  to  the  few  whose  lives  have 
meant  so  much  to  this  church.  It  is  seldom  that  a 
church  has  so  few  of  its  ministers  who  can  be  present 
to  greet  you.  Would  to  God  one  of  your  former 
pastors  might  be  in  my  place  this  morning  and  give  to 
you  his  association  of  the  past,  but  only  two  of  the 
regular  pastors  of  the  church  are  living — Dr.  M.  Wool- 
sey  Stryker,  who  is  in  the  south  and  unable  to  be 
present,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Hall,  professor  of  a  univer¬ 
sity  in  Germany.  We  have  been  led  in  the  past  by 


220  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

men  of  noble  purpose  in  life,  who  have  spoken  with 
truth  and  earnestness.  Truly,  ‘‘others  have  laboured 
and  we  have  entered  into  their  labours.” 

It  scarcely  seems  to  me  possible  that  I  have  served 
longer  than  any  other  pastor.  No  one  knows  better 
than  I  the  failures  and  weaknesses  of  the  work,  be¬ 
cause  one  knows  his  own  heart  best,  but  no  one  knows 
better  than  I  the  joy  of  working  with  such  a  people, 
and  giving  one’s  life  to  such  a  task  and  such  a  future. 

Perhaps  we  should  turn  from  the  past,  save  as  I 
would  like  to  read  to  you  the  linking  of  the  past  to  the 
present,  and  the  present  to  the  future — the  yesterday 
with  the  to-day ;  the  to-day  with  the  to-morrow. 

This  past  week  I  have  gone  over  carefully  many 
hundreds  of  letters  which  came  to  me  twelve  years  ago, 
for  in  the  providence  of  God  I  am  nearly  completing 
my  twelfth  year  as  your  pastor.  Among  those  letters 
some  came  with  vital  force.  I  want  to  read  from  one 
or  two  of  them : 

“The  church  needs  a  leader  who  knows  God,  who 
believes  in  and  uses  prayer,  who  believes  in  the  inspira¬ 
tion  of  the  Bible,  in  the  sin  of  man,  the  need  of  a 
Saviour,  and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Given 
such  a  man,  who  has  received  a  Divine  call  to  the 
ministry  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  stands  in  the 
pulpit  as  His  representative  to  declare  His  message, 
rather  than  to  please  the  congregation,  and  I  am  sure 
a  spiritual  revolution  would  take  place  in  the  church 
and  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  North 
Side.  This  is  the  local  problem. 

“Then  there  is  the  great  city  which  sadly  needs 
Jesus  Christ.  There  are  but  220,000  members  of  the 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  221 

Evangelical  churches  out  of  2,500,000  of  people — not 
many,  but  enough  properly  led  and  equipped,  to  make 
the  people  know  of  the  love  of  God  for  them.  They 
are  not  coming  into  the  churches — but  few  of  the 
churches  are  going  out  to  them ;  so  new  plans  are  to  be 
formed,  new  methods  are  to  be  adopted,  and  new 
leaders  raised  up.  This  is  a  mighty  work,  needing 
men  like  you.  Chicago  dominates  the  Mississippi  Val¬ 
ley  commercially.  Its  influence  reaches  up  to  the 
Canadian  border,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  As  Chicago  moves,  so  moves  the  west. 
Its  position  in  a  business  way  is  what  it  should  be  in  a 
religious  way.  Shall  it  occupy  this  foremost  place  for 
Jesus  Christ,  or  shall  the  influence  that  goes  out  from 
it  be  worldly,  selfish  and  sordid?  Who  can  answer 
the  question  ?  Is  this  God’s  call  to  you  ?” 

I  look  back  through  those  twelve  years,  realising  how 
little  has  been  done  relatively  to  reach  such  an  ideal, 
but  I  look  with  gratitude  that  in  the  providence  of  God 
I  was  called  to  work  with  you  in  so  brave  and  so  noble 
a  task.  The  pastorate  is  associated  with  blessings 
which  cannot  be  enumerated,  and  I  shall  not  try. 

But  what  of  the  present  ?  Of  the  to-day !  Yesterday 
brings  to  us  a  responsibility.  How  little  we  antici¬ 
pated  twelve  years  ago,  or  even  six  or  seven  years  ago, 
the  conditions  through  which  we  were  to  pass. 
What  of  the  present?  The  hardest  time  in  all,  as  we 
read  history,  is  the  time  following  the  war.  The  war 
itself  has  the  thrill  and  the  burst  of  life  and  the 
enthusiasm  and  pressure  of  unique  and  single  purpose, 
but  after  the  war !  It  is  like  those  days  when  fever  has 
broken  and  the  physical  has  been  disintegrated  and 


222  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

weakened  by  the  heating  of  the  fire  of  the  disease,  and 
the  physician,  all  calmly  and  wisely,  and  the  nurse,  all 
patiently,  keeps  others  from  the  patient.  Will  the 
heart  hold  out?  Will  the  body  be  strong  enough? 
Will  the  spirit  and  the  will  have  strength  enough  and 
ambition  to  cope  with  the  physical  weakness  and  weari¬ 
ness  and  pain? 

The  reconstruction  period,  as  we  call  it,  is  the  hard¬ 
est  of  all.  Why  should  we  be  troubled  because  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  ocean,  the  world  and  its  inhabitants 
seems  troubled.  Let  us  leave  behind  the  swelling  tides 
and  this  condition  of  turmoil.  Why  should  we  forget 
the  past  with  its  glorious  on-mark  and  its  future  goal, 
just  because  we  live  in  a  day  of  uneasiness  and  diffi¬ 
culty?  No,  hearts  of  men  are  stronger,  and  lives  look 
out  afresh,  and  a  nobler,  holier  purpose  inspires  those 
who  trust  God. 

You  and  I  have  never  had  such  opportunities  as  at 
present.  What  did  Victor  Hugo  say  about  France 
after  the  French  revolution?  We  get  from  his  pen 
and  his  philosophy  a  condition  of  enthusiasm  to  hold 
on  and  to  make  the  nation  stand  in  its  adjustment. 
Why  does  he  picture  that  little  group  of  alert  minds, 
from  all  types  of  the  people — the  poor,  the  rich,  the 
philosopher,  the  graduate  of  the  university — meeting 
alone  in  that  back  room  in  Paris,  simply  to  work  out  as 
youth  some  of  the  trying  problems  that  seem  to  be  the 
collapse  of  civilisation?  No,  they  are  searching  for  the 
foundations  and  building  upon  them. 

Only  the  weakling  to-day  is  ignoring  and  evading 
the  problems  of  the  moment. 

This  is  so  in  religion  as  it  is  in  law,  in  medicine,  in 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  223 

pedagogy,  as  in  the  halls  of  Congress  or  in  the  rela¬ 
tionships  of  great  international  problems.  The  weak¬ 
ling  says  :  “I  do  not  believe  anything.”  The  weakling 
says :  “I  have  lost  my  foundation,  I  do  not  believe  in 
society.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  church.”  Yes,  and  you 
are  a  weakling,  but  the  problem  of  the  hour  is  to  stand 
firm  on  the  rock  foundation,  and  facing  the  past,  gain¬ 
ing  from  it  the  present  opportunity,  bare  your  breast 
to  the  foe  and  give  your  life  to  the  future  in  the  testing 
of  the  hour. 

“New  occasions  teach  new  duties; 

Time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth; 

They  must  upward  still,  and  onward, 

Who  would  keep  abreast  of  truth; 

Lo,  before  us  gleam  her  campfires! 

We  ourselves  must  Pilgrims  be, 

Launch  our  Mayflower, 

And  steer  boldly  through  the  desperate  winter  sea; 

Nor  attempt  the  future’s  portal  with  the  past’s 
blood-rusted  key.” 

Oh,  the  power  of  the  present  when  the  ambition  of 
the  soul  reaches  out  into  the  chaos,  and  grasps  not  at  a 
straw,  but  strikes  out  boldly  to  swim ! 

The  present  is  the  test  of  character.  It  is  easy  to 
give  one’s  self  entirely  to  your  selfish  task,  saying 
society  can  get  on  without  you,  your  church  can  meet 
the  problems  and  adjustments  in  her  own  way.  That  is 
the  answer  of  the  selfish  coward;  of  the  man  of  small 
and  sordid  life.  Such  men  are  not  willing  to  meet  the 
conditions  of  to-day  with  the  same  purpose  and  spirit 
with  which  they  met  the  problems  of  the  nation  and 
the  world.  The  spirit  of  Christ  inspires  one  onward 
and  challenges  to  the  best. 


224  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Be  angry  if  you  will  at  this.  This  is  the  test  of  your 
character.  If  your  anger  strands  you  where  you  are, 
you  will  stay  there,  but  if  you  will  respond  and  face 
the  problems  and  needs  of  the  hour  with  a  hopeful, 
earnest,  strong  and  courageous  soul,  and  set  yourself 
to  the  tasks  which  are  ours  and  mutually  yours,  you 
are  then  made  of  the  stuff  that  has  made  the  nation 
strong,  and  your  age  and  your  God  will  give  their 
amen  to  a  life  that  shows  willingness  to  serve. 

What  of  the  future?  I  want  to  bring  thoughtfully 
before  you  in  the  spirit  of  faith  and  courage,  some 
seven  matters  which  have  appealed  to  me  as  necessary 
for  this  church  to  consider.  They  may  not  appeal  to 
you  as  they  do  to  me.  I  may  be  wrong,  and  in  all 
probability  I  am  wrong  in  some  of  them,  but  I  am  not 
prejudiced,  insistent  nor  dogmatic.  I  am  here  to  serve 
and  you  are  here  to  serve.  These  suggestions,  how¬ 
ever,  are  not  the  result  of  the  preparation  of  this  anni¬ 
versary  sermon,  although  they  have  centred  there ;  they 
are  the  result  of  years  of  thinking  in  a  tent  at  the  battle 
front. 

It  is  necessary  for  a  pastor  to-day  to  be  more  than  a 
pastor.  He  must  think  and  study  often  into  the  mid¬ 
night  hour  if  he  is  to  lead  others  in  thought  and  pur¬ 
pose.  He  must  be  in  the  street,  by  day,  and  in  the 
homes  where  there  is  need  among  the  people.  He 
must  know  something  of  the  problems  of  administra¬ 
tion  that  he  may  ^properly  guide  those  who  co-operate 
with  him.  His  duties  are  complex,  but  constant,  and 
his  soul  and  mind  must  have  a  vision  which  constructs 
itself  into  a  plan. 

The  first  grave  problem  which  faces  the  immediate 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  225 

future  in  this  church  is  our  relationship  to  the  children. 
The  children  of  the  church  (the  church  at  large,  as  well 
as  our  own),  are  not  attending  divine  worship,  and  if 
children  do  not  form  the  habit  of  church  attendance, 
men  and  women  will  not  be  led  to  attend,  in  large 
number  in  future  years.  In  many  instances  there  are 
reasons  for  it.  Some  say  the  Bible  school  is  a  substi¬ 
tute.  It  is  not.  It  is  the  training  school,  but  not 
primarily  the  place  of  worship.  The  child  needs  wor¬ 
ship,  and  if  you  leave  out  the  worship  instinct,  it  will 
result  sadly  for  the  future. 

Our  own  church  has  here  a  real  problem.  This 
congregation  is  not  a  strange  congregation,  although 
many  friends  are  here  this  morning.  Our  church  is 
filled.  It  is  so  constantly.  There  does  not  seem  to  be 
room  for  the  children,  but  the  children  must  attend. 
Making  a  careful  study  for  some  years  of  the  children's 
sermons  in  connection  with  the  Sunday  morning  ser¬ 
mon  in  many  churches,  having  practised  it  and  experi¬ 
enced  its  influence,  I  do  not  believe,  generally  speaking, 
that  it  is  a  wise  policy.  The  child  forms  the  habit  of 
going  out  during  the  service ;  adults  are  a  little  restless 
during  the  children’s  sermon,  for  only  about  one  man 
in  ten  (perhaps  this  is  a  low  percentage)  can  preach  a 
children’s  sermon  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  helpful  to  both 
child  and  adult. 

We  have  taken  action,  as  a  Session,  this  morning, 
and  have  decided  to  begin  next  Sunday  morning  a 
Junior  Church,  which  will  be  held  at  eleven  o’clock,  in 
parallelism  with  this  service,  in  our  lecture  room.  One 
of  the  associate  ministers  of  the  church  will  conduct 
that  service.  I  plan  to  go  in  during  the  service  to  keep 


226  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

in  touch  with  it  as  pastor.  Members  of  the  choir  will 
have  charge  of  the  music;  the  hymns  of  the  church  will 
be  sung  and  the  church  hymn  books  will  be  used.  The 
service  will  not  exceed  the  hour  in  length.  I  do  not 
want  any  of  you  to  go  into  that  service  and  we  will 
try  to  keep  it  to  fifty  minutes.  It  will  also  afford  the 
stranger  and  those  who  are  not  able  to  get  into  this 
service  an  opportunity  of  worship  in  this  overflow, 
which  service  we  usually  have  to  hold  at  Easter  and 
Christmas  season.  This  will  begin  next  Sunday  morn¬ 
ing  at  eleven,  and  I  want  you  to  pray  about  it.* 

The  second  matter  is  reaching  this  entire  community, 
not  in  denominationalism,  but  for  Jesus  Christ,  as  we 
may  be  able.  This  means  the  spirit  of  co-operation 
with  every  other  church,  who  names  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ — not  in  attempt  to  criticise  others.  I  say  with¬ 
out  hesitation  that  I  am  grateful  to  God  that  our 
Roman  Catholic  friends  have  put  up  that  building  near 
us.  If  Jesus  Christ’s  name  be  honoured,  let  us  be  glad, 
even  if  we  differ  in  creed,  policy  and  polity,  and  even 
if  we  see  grave  errors  which  annoy  and  seem  to 
threaten.  Let  us  freely  and  cordially  recognise  every 
work  of  God  which  stands  in  this  community,  and 
encourage  rather  than  criticise  every  such  work  and 
enterprise.  Let  us  then  stand  more  clearly  on  the 
basis  of  reaching  the  entire  community  for  Jesus 
Christ,  and  co-operate  with  all  other  churches,  aiming 
to  help  them. 

Third:  If  this  church  continued  for  twenty-five 
years,  at  our  seventy-fifth  anniversary  we  should  have 
at  least  an  active  working  membership  of  five  thousand, 
who  are  worshipping  here  regularly.  No  lower  figure 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  227 

would  be  right,  in  view  of  the  work  which  has  been 
done  and  may  be  done. 

Fourth :  This  brings  up  the  question  of  additional 
buildings  which  should  be  built  to  meet  not  only  the 
responsibilities  of  housing  but  training  such  a  parish. 
It  will  mean  increased  help,  and  this  church  edifice, 
great  and  beautiful  as  it  is,  with  such  a  parish,  should 
have  at  least  four  regular  services  every  Sunday,  fully 
attended  as  much  as  this.  Why  have  we  relegated  to 
our  Roman  Catholic  friends  the  use  of  the  church 
building  four  or  five  times  on  Sunday,  when  God  says 
we  need  this  worship  as  much  as  they?  I  speak  this  as 
a  matter  of  prophecy. 

Fifth:  This  leads  us  to  another  most  important 
question.  This  church  should  have  ultimately  in  her 
endowment  fund  not  less  than  two  million  dollars. 
Our  present  endowment  is  now  (by  legacy  and  direct 
gift)  about  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  We  should 
have  this  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  raised  within 
the  next  few  years  to  one  million  dollars,  with  the  full 
aim  of  at  least  two  million  dollars  in  mind.  If  the  first 
million  is  attained  there  will  be  no  trouble  about  the 
second  million  in  the  course  of  the  next  twenty-five 
years.  It  will  come  through  legacies  and  by  thoughtful 
gift,  the  precedent  having  been  made. 

Now  just  one  word  in  this  connection.  There  are 
many  people  who  feel  that  gifts  should  not  be  given  to 
a  religious  organisation,  but  that  their  children  and 
their  immediate  relatives  should  have  the  use  of  the 
whole  of  their  money  and  all  its  benefits.  I  do  not 
believe  it.  I  believe  the  children  and  family  should 
have  their  right  place  in  the  gifts  which  care  for  them, 


228  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

but  I  have  never  seen  a  case  where  money  was  left  by  a 
father  or  mother  in  large  amounts  to  children,  where 
there  was  not  left  with  it  Christian  character  to  control 
it  and  use  it  aright,  that  did  not  do  harm  rather  than 
good.  I  know  this  will  trouble  some  people  and  their 
children.  Nevertheless,  it  is  true.  If  you  leave  Chris¬ 
tian  character  with  your  child;  if  you  leave  character 
which  knows  how  to  use  funds,  it  is  well  and  good; 
but,  if  you  leave  money  without  character  there  will 
probably  be  shipwreck.  Most  of  you  are  where  you 
are  because  you  had  to  work  to  attain  what  you  have 
and  had  to  make  an  effort  most  of  your  life.  Add 
character  to  it  and  your  life  has  been  a  blessing. 

I  do  not  say,  take  the  funds  that  should  be  the  funds 
of  your  children  and  give  them  to  the  church.  Not  at 
all ;  but,  share  your  legacies  with  the  church.  I  say  to 
your  sons  and  daughters,  encourage  your  fathers  and 
your  mothers  to  share  it  with  the  church.  Can  you 
find  anywhere  trustees  who  are  more  carefully  selected, 
more  thoughtful  and  more  conscientious?  The  hospi¬ 
tals,  such  as  the  Presbyterian  and  St.  Luke’s,  are  re¬ 
lated  to  the  church  of  Christ  in  their  upholding  and 
sustentation.  All  kinds  of  civic  and  philanthropic 
works,  near  and  far,  are  born  and  mothered  in  the 
church.  Let  us  sustain  the  founder. 

I  want  you  to  consider  this,  for  the  man  or  woman 
who  puts  it  off  is  usually  the  one  who  dies  suddenly 
without  making  his  will,  or  carrying  out  his  intention. 
Since  I  have  been  in  this  church  many  people,  one  after 
another,  who  have  told  me  personally  that  they  ex¬ 
pected  to  remember  the  church  in  their  wills  have  not 
done  so  simply  because  it  was  postponed. 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  229 

I  plead  with  you,  men  and  women  with  means,  some 
of  you  who  are  here  this  morning,  who  love  the  church 
— where  else  can  you  leave  your  money  where  it  will 
go  on  more  worthily  forever  in  the  great  work  that 
emanates  from  the  church.  I  am  grateful  that  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars  have  already  been  given  by 
members  of  this  church,  and  I  believe  it  will  be  in¬ 
creased  to  one  million  within  the  next  few  years  and 
ultimately  to  twice  that  amount.  I  will  never  approach 
you  with  any  degree  of  insistence  upon  this  matter. 
My  mission  is  another,  but  I  will  pray  much  about  it 
and  talk  with  you  as  opportunity  is  given  or  as  your 
wish  requests.  May  God  put  it  into  your  hearts  in  this 
church  to  meet  this  great  need. 

Sixth:  Another  consideration  which  we  must  face 
within  the  next  twenty-five  years  is  the  pew  rental 
system.  The  pew  rental  system  of  this  church  and 
every  church  ought  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past.  You  can¬ 
not  have  a  growing,  Christian,  democratic  spirit  where 
you  have  a  pew  rental  system,  but  you  can  have  a 
proper  system  of  designated  pews  and  sittings  and  of 
systematic  support  in  giving,  which  amounts  to  the 
same  thing — a  condition  where  those  who  give  regu¬ 
larly  to  the  church  will  have  sittings  held  for  them 
until  eleven  o'clock  (not  five  minutes  after  eleven).  If 
they  are  not  there  then,  the  pews  should  be  given  to 
others  who  wait. 

This  will  not  come  immediately.  It  never  should  be 
started  until  the  one  million  dollars  is  drawing  interest 
from  our  endowment  fund.  I  do  not  think  the  day  is 
far  hence  when  that  will  be  true.  I  ask  you  not  to 


230  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

advocate  it  in  any  way  now,  but  pray  and  work  to 
hasten  that  day. 

Seventh:  Let  us  consider  a  few  actual  parish  needs 
which  face  us  now.  The  active  boards  of  this  church 
should  be  enlarged.  They  are  not  large  enough  for  the 
proper  distribution  of  the  work  in  reaching  the  needs 
of  our  twenty-three  hundred  members,  and  there  are 
many  men  of  splendid  purpose,  ability  and  careful 
thought,  members  of  our  church,  who  are  ready  to  take 
positions  on  these  boards.  We  should  do  more  work 
among  the  women  of  our  community  and  city,  espe¬ 
cially  in  the  homes,  and  the  women  outside  the  direct 
parish.  This  matter  is  the  result  of  years  of  thinking, 
watchfulness,  study  and  prayer.  As  I  have  studied 
this  parish,  there  is  a  wonderful  field  here.  Some  one 
is  going  to  see  the  need  and  meet  it  by  proper  gift  and 
appropriation. 

Spurgeon  said  that  the  homes  of  London  needed  the 
motherly  relationship  of  women  of  piety,  who  could 
help  them  solve  the  local  problems.  This  is  especially 
true  among  the  transient  classes,  so  many  of  whom  we 
have  to  the  west  of  us, 

We  have  to-day  visiting  nurses  and  many  societies 
which  are  working  out  this  problem,  but  a  great  church 
like  ours  should  not  relegate  to  the  church  of  other 
denominations,  nor  to  other  societies,  all  the  responsi¬ 
bility.  How  few  of  our  people  ever  walk  down  South 
Clark  Street  or  Wells  Street  and  West  Chicago  Ave¬ 
nue,  or  feel  the  great  heart-throb  of  the  tens  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  people  unministered  to  by  any  Protestant 
church  in  this  part  of  our  city. 

We  have  a  great  responsibility.  Why  has  God  given 


YESTERDAY,  TO-DAY  AND  TO-MORROW  231 

us  wealth,  position  and  the  confidence  of  the  people? 
We  must  work  this  problem  out.  There  is  the  need  of 
a  building  near  us  where  at  least  twelve  deaconesses 
can  be  trained  by  a  two  years’  course  of  study  to  meet 
the  problems  of  this  parish  and  community.  It  would 
not  interfere  with  the  training  school.  It  would  not 
interfere  with,  but  use  and  help,  any  work  now  done 
by  the  Moody  Bible  Institute.  It  is  greatly  needed  in 
this  parish  to  meet  the  problems  of  womanhood  and 
family  life  in  our  very  midst. 

Our  choir  ought  to  have  better  accommodations.  We 
have  a  choir  leader,  organist,  and  choir  unsurpassed, 
who  are  doing  a  work  for  us,  and  as  an  example  to  the 
nation  this  department  of  work  should  be  encouraged 
and  aided.  In  connection  with  the  building  spoken  of 
for  deaconesses,  this  expanded  need  could  also  be  met. 

There  must  be  a  greater,  closer  relationship  to  the 
churches  of  the  entire  city.  The  educational  work  of 
our  city  must  be  enhanced  and  strengthened  as  we 
relate  ourselves  to  it.  Our  long  and  honoured  relation 
to  McCormick  Theological  Seminary  is  a  great  blessing 
and  asset  to  us.  This  church  must  be  increasingly  a 
church  which  helps  the  Central  West,  the  Far  West  and 
our  nation.  These  needs  may  be  modified  within  the 
years,  but  should  be  considered. 

Last  of  all,  and  inclusive  of  all,  I  plead  with  you  to 
realise  that  Bible  study  and  spiritual  development  leads 
in  the  development  of  all  this  work.  It  is  not  the  num¬ 
ber  who  attend  the  church  that  counts.  It  is  the  influ¬ 
ence  and  power  of  those  who  are  in  the  church,  and  who 
are  able  to  build  themselves  up  in  the  faith.  Then  your 
sons  and  daughters,  when  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary 


232  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

comes,  will  name  your  names  as  those  who  trained 
them  in  the  knowledge  of  God’s  word  and  in  spiritual 
truth. 

Oh,  my  dear  people  I  would  to  God  that  we  could 
work  on  with  such  aims  that  our  church  may  become 
the  centre  where  our  sons  and  daughters  may  learn  the 
most  holy  faith  of  our  fathers;  where  little  children 
may  learn  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Saviour  of  men  and 
the  friend  of  children.  Oh,  my  dear  people,  hear  these 
words : 

“Move  to  the  fore, 

Say  not  another  is  fitter  than  thou. 

Shame  to  thy  shrinking,  up,  face  thy  task  now. 

Own  thyself  equal  to  all  a  soul  may. 

Cease  thy  evading,  God  needs  thee  to-day. 

Move  to  the  fore. 

God  Himself  waits  and  must  wait  till  thou  come; 

Men  are  God’s  prophets  tho’  ages  lie  dumb; 

Halts  the  Christ  kingdom  with  conquest  so  near, 

Thou  art  the  cause  then,  thou  soul  in  the  rear, 

Move  to  the  fore.” 

Then  the  words  of  our  texts  shall  be  true :  “The 
latter  glory  of  this  house  shall  be  greater  than  the 
former,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts;  and  in  this  place  will 
I  give  peace,”  and  we  will  follow  the  counsel  of  our 
God  in  our  other  text :  “Only  be  strong  and  very 
courageous,  to  observe,  to  do  according  to  all  the  law, 
which  Moses,  thy  servant,  commanded  thee;  turn  not 
from  it  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  that  thou 
mayest  have  good  success  whithersoever  thou  goest.” 


XXI 


CHRISTIAN  ESTABLISHMENT 

“When  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  breth¬ 
ren.” — Luke  22  132. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  note  that  this  remarkable 
sentence  of  Christ’s  followed  the  assertion  that  Satan 
would  seek  to  have  one  who  stood  among  the  strongest 
of  Christ’s  followers.  It  is  very  clearly  related  to  the 
denial  of  that  same  man,  recognising  the  human  weak¬ 
ness  of  life. 

We  had  in  our  Scripture  lesson  the  thought  that  God 
puts  humanity  in  earthen  vessels  that  man  may  not 
depend  upon  himself  too  much. 

Then  comes  another  truth:  The  establishment  of 
righteousness  in  the  earth  is  not  related  simply  to 
Omnipotence,  but  is  established  in  human  weakness, 
and  so  Christ  said  to  the  Church :  “When  thou  are 
converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren.”  He  spoke  to  this 
man  and  to  all  who  follow  Him. 

This  gives  to  us  first  of  all  the  thought  of  the  rela¬ 
tivity  of  the  Christian  life.  An  unrelated  Christian 
life  is  not  a  Christian  life  at  all. 

When  there  came  to  John  of  the  Golden  Mouth 
(Chrysostom)  the  consciousness  that  the  heart-beat  of 
the  city  of  Antioch  needed  the  handclasp  of  Christian 
leadership,  he  no  longer  went  to  his  rough  cloister  or 
cave  in  the  outskirts  of  that  city.  He  was  starving 

233 


234  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

himself  and  living  a  life  of  seclusion  and  secrecy  in 
prayer  and  devotion  in  the  thought  that  worship  meant 
separation  from  humanity.  He  discovered  it  meant 
not  only  separation  from  sin,  but  it  means  contact 
with  humanity,  and  Chrysostom  learned  this.  In  one 
sense  he  was  a  pioneer  of  social  service.  But,  social 
service,  for  its  own  sake  amounts  to  nothing.  Social 
service  for  Christ’s  and  humanity's  sake  amounts  to  a 
great  deal.  It  must  never  be  a  substitute  for,  but  a 
supplement  of  faith  and  worship.  And  so  this  man  of 
God  said :  “Although  I  love  to  worship  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  and  love  the  cave  where  I  have  eaten  my  bread 
and  water  and  starved  myself  into  a  self-victory  in 
keeping  my  body  under,  I  realise  that  the  great  throb¬ 
bing  city  of  Antioch,  with  all  its  suffering,  criticism, 
bitterness,  murder  and  immorality  needs  a  faith  that  I 
can  give.  So  that  Sunday  morning  when  he  preached 
in  the  old  church,  and  it  was  known  that  this  young 
priest  had  come  out  from  the  wilderness,  they  not  only 
stood  but  filled  all  available  space,  listening  to  his 
message  which  has  run  round  the  world  in  its  after¬ 
effect.  As  this  man  became  an  emphasiser  of  related 
Christianity,  he  became  his  brother’s  keeper.  The 
suffering  of  his  neighbour  touched  his  heart,  and  he 
even  felt  the  pain  which  the  other  suffered.  That  was 
a  new  interpretation  of  the  Gospel  which  he  emphasised 
and  preached. 

These  words  of  Christ  are  the  true  definition  of  a 
Christian’s  faith.  “Show  me  your  faith  without  your 
works,’’  said  the  old  practical  theologian  of  Holy  Writ, 
“and  I  \Gll  show  you  my  faith  by  my  works.’’ 

In  that  recent  book  of  Clara  E.  Laughlin’s — 


CHRISTIAN  ESTABLISHMENT 


235 


“Jeanne-Marie’s  Triumph”' — she  ha9  clarified  much 
confusion  of  thought  as  to  a  fixed  and  vital  principle 
in  national  service.  She  puts  into  the  lips  of  the 
heroine  in  that  dramatic  scene  of  popular  uprising  in 
Paris  these  words : 

“We  say  the  diplomats  have  messed  things  up. 
They  can’t  make  peace !  We  must  make  it !  Every 
one  of  us  must  make  his  share — do  his  utmost,  as 
they  did  who  bled  and  died  ‘out  there.’  And  we 
must  make  it  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  they 
fought  for  it — sacrifice  and  service.  Not  ‘every 
man  for  himself,’  but  ‘every  man  for  others.’  Not, 
‘what  can  I  get  out  of  this?’  but  ‘what  can  I  do  or 
give,  that  will  make  the  world  safer  and  better  to 
live  in?’  ” 

This  is  the  thought  of  our  theme  and  text  to-day—- 
not  self,  but  others.  This  very  principle  brought  Jesus 
Christ  into  the  world  and  led  Him  to  give  His  life  for 
us.  It  is  the  related  power  of  Christianity — “If  you 
are  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren.” 

The  influence  of  one  devoted  life  to  another  is  seen 
in  the  inspiration  Wordsworth  received  from  his  sister, 
Dorothy.  Of  her  he  said: 

“She  gave  me  eyes,  she  gave  me  ears, 

And  humble  cares,  and  delicate  fears, 

A  heart,  the  fountain  of  sweet  tears, 

And  Love  and  Thought  and  Joy,” 

and  the  man  of  those  great  human  poems  (perhaps 
even  more  than  Tennyson)  gripped  the  heart  of  those 
who  read  them,  whether  he  talked  about  a  sheep-fold 


236  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

on  the  hills  of  North  Scotland,  or  touched  the  beauty 
of  a  love  scene  on  an  English  lake.  This  man  said 
that  this  life-giving  self  in  his  youth  and  on  through 
his  maturing  years  taught  him  “love  and  thought  and 
joy.’’  What  a  testimony  of  a  sister’s  devotion  and 
love!  It  is  the  related  power  of  Christianity  and  the 
influence  we  must  have  upon  others. 

No  nation  which  does  not  bear  the  primary  respon¬ 
sibilities  of  its  individual  citizenship  and  is  not  loyal 
to  individual  standards  of  right  living  will  ever  be  in  a 
position  to  help  others.  Conversion  leads  to  brother¬ 
hood.  “When  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy 
brethren.” 

Now  secondly:  A  helpful  relationship  to  others 
appreciates  the  weakness  in  human  nature  as  well  as 
the  strength  and  seeks  to  give  itself  to  assist  and  help 
in  the  place  of  weakness.  It  is  constructive.  “When 
thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren.”  The 
Church  in  her  establishment  is  not  a  matter  of  form, 
of  ceremony,  or  of  geography !  It  is  a  matter  of  the 
relationship  of  human  hearts  to  other  hearts.  It  aims 
to  make  your  child  stronger  than  you  are ;  to  make  his 
child  stronger  than  your  child’s  child,  and  the  growth 
and  development  of  spiritual  matters  is  established  in 
the  earth,  not  simply  by  a  theory  but  by  reproducing 
lives. 

The  greatest  criticism  as  to  some  so-called  religions 
is  that  they  are  self-centred.  When  you  tell  me  that  a 
religion  is  not  reaching  out  to  save  those  in  distress, 
there  is  no  need  of  defending  it,  because  any  thoughtful 
man  or  woman  sees  its  fallacy.  The  test  is  in  the 
attack ;  in  meeting  the  need. 


CHRISTIAN  ESTABLISHMENT 


237 


Many  years  ago  some  coach  on  a  foot-ball  team 
devised  the  fact  that  in  the  attack  the  signal  could  be 
so  given  that  the  men  in  the  line  could  be  adjusted 
quickly,  so  that  the  strongest  man  would  oppose  the 
strongest  man  in  the  line.  When  those  men  quickly 
changed  their  positions,  they  thought  it  was  simply  with 
the  purpose  of  advancing  the  ball.  Not  at  all!  The 
formation  was  such  that  the  attack  was  made  with 
every  weak  spot  in  their  line  recognised  and  a  substi¬ 
tute  for  it  in  the  strength  of  the  strongest.  It  was  not 
yielding  their  point  of  weakness  to  the  other  team,  but 
taking  the  point  of  strength.  It  strengthened  the  ad¬ 
vancing  team  by  making  the  team  strong  just  where  it 
needed  relative  strength  to  the  opposing  enemy. 

Now  such  is  Christianity.  This  world  must  be 
strengthened;  the  Church  of  Christ  must  be  strength¬ 
ened  in  her  weak  places,  and  she  has  many  because  she 
is  human.  It  is  the  earthen  vessel  of  it — the  Peter  that 
denied  Christ.  We  must  not  lose  because  of  the  weak 
people  in  the  Church,  but  place  in  positions  of  strength 
those  who  are  strong. 

Usually  the  critic  of  the  Church  is  a  sinner  himself, 
whether  his  sin  is  known  or  not.  He  may  have  covered 
it  up.  It  may  be  a  sin  of  some  selfishness,  of  egotism, 
or  pride,  but  it  is  just  as  much  a  sin  in  the  sight  of  God. 
If  he  is  a  true  critic  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  he  will  be 
a  constructor.  True  criticism  has  construction  in  it, 
not  destruction.  It  is  invariably  true  that  the  critic  who 
is  destructive  is  one  who  has  something  in  his  life  he 
wants  to  cover  up.  He  is  not  a  scholar,  for  scholarship 
is  constructive ;  he  is  not  a  student,  for  he  does  not  go 
far  enough  and  study  remedy. 


238  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Take  a  little  hunch-back  child  who  is  trying  to  walk 
straight.  Your  heart  goes  out  to  him,  but  some  foolish 
and  unworthy  teacher  comes  along  and  says :  “Stand 
up  straight — don’t  you  know  you  are  hunch-backed!” 
You  see  tears  on  the  cheek  of  the  little  boy.  Does  he 
not  know  he  was  hunchbacked  ?  Does  he  not  cry  him¬ 
self  to  sleep  at  night  until  his  little  back  aches? 
Another  noble  soul  says :  “My  boy,  that’s  right,  try 
to  stand  straight.  You’re  looking  better.”  The 
little  fellow  forgets  all  about  his  back  and  a  happy 
smile  comes  over  his  face  and  he  tries  to  straighten  up, 
and  goes  to  the  surgeon  or  hospital  with  hope  and 
courage.  The  first  is  destructive  criticism.  There  is  no 
Christianity  in  it.  The  second  is  constructive.  That  is 
what  Christ  meant — “If  ye  be  converted,  strengthen 
thy  brethren.” 

Again  Christ’s  thought  teaches  us  to  overlook  the 
smallness  of  life.  It  may  be  that  some  people  have 
gotten  into  trouble  with  minor  points.  Perhaps  an 
oversight  about  pews — something  happened,  and  the 
little  man  says :  “I’ll  never  go  in  that  church  again,” 
and  from  that  time  he  becomes  a  man  who  says,  “You 
know  the  church  is  not  doing  very  much.”  There  is 
self-evidence.  Such  things  happen. 

Such  lives  usually  could  not  stand  a  search-light 
within.  They  become  super-sensitive.  The  bank  ex¬ 
aminers  tell  us  they  discover  a  good  many  crooked 
dealings  from  men  who  tell  them  about  other  bankers 
that  are  crooked,  and  they  immediately  begin  to  wonder 
what  may  be  the  matter  with  these  men.  The  man  who 
is  honest  appreciates  honesty,  and  looks  for  faithful¬ 
ness  and  loyalty  in  the  men  in  his  line  of  work.  The 


CHRISTIAN  ESTABLISHMENT 


239 


best  way  to  show  your  own  weakness  is  to  begin  to 
complain  about  somebody  else.  There  is  something 
wrong  in  universal  criticism.  It  means  there  is  some¬ 
thing  there  unrelated  to  the  great  constructive  work  of 
Jesus  Christ.  “If  ye  be  converted,  strengthen  your 
brethren." 

Note  this  additional  fact:  We  can  never  have  a 
permanent  influence  in  this  world  unless  our  self- 
denying  effort  begins  in  the  little  things  where  we  live. 
Everybody’s  problem  is  a  little  more  difficult  than 
anybody’s  else.  Of  course,  Bobby  Burns  could  tell  it  to 
us  better  than  some  others.  No,  we  do  not  see  our¬ 
selves  as  others  see  us. 

Walter  Scott  said:  “Teach  self-denial  and  make  its 
practice  pleasurable,  and  you  create  for  the  world  a 
destiny  more  sublime  than  ever  issued  from  the  brain 
of  the  wildest  dreamer,”  but  that  self-denial  must  be  in 
our  own  personal  problems,  no  matter  how  small. 

Emerson  said:  “Would  we  codify  the  lawrs  that 
should  reign  in  households,  and  whose  daily  trans¬ 
gression  annoys  and  mortifies  us,  and  degrades  our 
household  life,  we  must  adorn  every  day  with  sacri¬ 
fices.  Good  manners  are  made  up  of  petty  sacrifices.” 
Not  the  great  things,  but  the  little  things,  the  trying, 
constant,  irritating  things  are  the  expressions  of  the 
related  Christianity  wdiich  will  make  this  world  see  and 
know  the  Christ,  and  realise  His  power. 

Our  theme  this  morning  is  “Christian  Establish¬ 
ment,  ”  and  you  ask — “Why  this  subject  on  the  morn¬ 
ing  of  the  Communion?”  At  the  Lord’s  table  we  meet 
in  commemoration  of  His  sacrifice  and  love.  We  are 
converted  people.  We  have  turned  to  Christ.  Are  we 


210  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

here  to  learn  to  strengthen  the  brethren ;  to  make  other 
people  better?  What  is  the  best  way  of  doing  it? 
Teaching  them?  Preaching  to  them?  Admonishing 
them?  Correcting  them?  Not  at  all.  Live  the  life. 
“What  you  are  talks  so  loud  I  cannot  hear  what  you 
say.’’  The  babel  of  voices  is  the  confused  multitudes 
preaching  to  other  people  and  defining  instead  of  living 
righteousness. 

Carnegie  Simpson  closes  his  excellent  life  of  Princi¬ 
pal  Rainy  with  these  remarkable  words  which  well  may 
be  a  testimony  paid  to  the  world’s  greatest  men : 

“The  great  service  he  did  the  Church  in  his  day 
was  by  setting  the  example,  and  leading  the 
Church  to  do  the  same,  of  a  thoroughly  high¬ 
hearted  and  grand  style  of  dealing  with  duties, 
with  events,  with  assailants.  Clear  as  to  his  prin¬ 
ciples,  in  full  possession  of  the  practical  forces  by 
which  the  Church  must  be  moved  and  guided,  he 
brought  to  every  occurrence,  above  all  these,  a 
grand  resoluteness,  fidelity  and  unselfishness,  that 
lifted  his  cause  and  all  who  shared  it  to  a  higher 
platform.  In  all  he  did  he  wras  a  magnanimous 
Christian;  and  by  the  grandeur  of  his  impulses 
and  the  nobility  of  his  attitude,  he  raised  the 
Church’s  own  conception  of  her  cause  and  of  her 
work.  The  great  Christian  ideas  which  inspired 
his  action  were  seen  in  him  undegraded  by  asso¬ 
ciation  with  personal  littleness,  with  paltry  feel¬ 
ings  and  paltry  ends.” 

Is  not  this  what  we  need  through  all  the  Churches, — 
a  high-hearted  Christianity;  conscious  of  the  greatness 


CHRISTIAN  ESTABLISHMENT  241 

of  the  Christian  truths  and  the  Christian  calling;  reso¬ 
lute  in  the  assertion  of  them? 

Now  do  you  know  there  is  a  wonderful  truth  in  this. 
The  more  your  life  is  filled  with  greatness  of  soul, 
the  more  you  will  deny  yourself.  The  trouble  with 
two  obstinate  people  is  that  the  one  thinks  the  other  is 
more  obstinate  than  himself.  Carnegie  Simpson  con¬ 
tinues  : 

“Not  with  the  bitter  and  narrow  obstinacy  of 
small  men,  but  with  the  strength  of  great  princi¬ 
ples,  of  a  temper  too  assured  to  be  passionate  or 
faltering  or  perplexed  !  One  should  pray  for  great 
men — Christian  men  of  great  moral  and  mental 
stature.  It  is  the  privilege  of  such  men  to  strike 
key-notes,  to  step  out  and  take  positions  which  de¬ 
cide  instantly  how  things  shall  go ;  then,  the  chorus 
of  the  rejoicing  Church  rises  in  harmony  with 
their  utterance,  the  strength  of  the  Church  moves 
and  ranks  itself  behind  them,  and  each  man  is 
potentiated  into  twice  his  own  power  by  the  im¬ 
pulse  which  he  receives  and  the  consciousness  in 
which  he  shares.  Such  service  he  did  for  the 
Church  of  his  day.” 

It  is  the  same  service  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
requires  of  us.  By  giving  our  lives  to  others  and 
seeing  that  we  are  our  brother’s  keeper,  we  fulfil  the 
law  of  Christ,  and  sometime  we  may  hear  Him  say: 
“Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me.”  Thus  will  Christianity  be 
established  and  as  converted  men  we  will  “strengthen 
the  brethren.” 


XXII 


THE  SOUL’S  VISION 

“And  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man 
and  he  saw.” — II  Kings  6:17. 

Dothan  was  a  hill  town  set  out  from  the  sur¬ 
rounding  country  among  the  Judaean  mountains — a 
point  on  the  great  caravan  highway.  It  was  known 
somewhat  previously  in  history.  God  had  spoken 
to  others  there  and  God  had  given  His  vision  to  others, 
but  it  was  also  where  the  prophet  of  God,  Elisha,  was 
resting. 

Word  about  Elisha  came  to  the  Syrian  King  who 
could  not  understand  why  his  every  manoeuvre  and 
movement  were  known  to  the  foe,  and  thinking, 
naturally,  that  some  one  in  his  camp  was  a  traitor,  it 
provoked  the  question  whereupon  the  answer  came — 
“There  is  no  traitor,  but  that  man  of  God,  Elisha, 
knows  what  you  are  thinking  and  saying  in  your  bed¬ 
chamber.  He  is  a  man  of  God.”  So  the  King  said: 
“Then,  this  is  the  man  we  must  capture,”  and  he  sent 
chariots  and  horses  and  a  great  host  who  surrounded 
this  little  town  by  night. 

In  the  early  morning  the  servant  of  Elisha  went  out 
and  behold!  they  were  surrounded  with  Syrians.  In 
his  fear  he  went  to  his  master,  Elisha,  and  said : 

“Master,  what  can  we  do — we  are  surrounded  on  every 

242 


THE  SOUL’S  VISION 


243 


side.  There  is  no  escape!”  But,  calm  and  strong,  this 
man  with  a  vision  replied :  “They  that  are  with  us  are 
more  than  they  are  with  them.”  Then  he  prayed,  “O, 
Jehovah,  open  the  eyes  of  the  young  man  that  he 
may  see.” 

Physical  blindness  is  never  so  hard  and  dire  in  its 
results  as  spiritual  blindness.  The  souls  of  men  are 
greater  than  their  bodies.  Men  have  overcome  physical 
blindness.  Why,  if  it  had  not  been  for  a  printer, 
stricken  in  his  earlier  life  with  blindness,  the  blind 
could  not  read  to-day,  but  that  genius,  Moon,  was  able 
to  invent  a  system  whereby  tens  of  thousands  have  read 
the  Gospel  Story,  and  know  the  saving  power  of  Jesus 
Christ.  They  have  read  it  with  their  sensitive  finger¬ 
tips,  because  that  man  who  was  blind  used  his  limitation 
to  the  glory  of  God.  Whether  it  be  a  Helen  Keller,  or 
a  great  musician  sitting  at  the  organ  sending  forth 
harmony  and  meanings  that  the  world  had  not  known 
before,  there  is  something  far  beyond  the  physical 
limitation,  for  men  have  attained  marvellously.  But, 
spiritual  blindness  has  no  remedy. 

The  lessons  before  us  this  morning  are  so  many,  we 
must  limit  them. 

First:  We  must  remember  that  if  we  have  this 
spiritual  vision  we  may  be  enabled  to  see  the  unseen, 
and  know  the  unknowable,  and  use  the  impossible  to 
attain  the  impossible  for  God. 

This  spiritual  vision  gives  us  the  far  view  of  oppor¬ 
tunity.  There  is  to-day  much  to  discourage,  and  the 
man  whose  heart  is  not  inspired  by  divine  things  sinks 
gradually  into  a  lethargy  of  soul  and  cares  not,  and 
opportunity  loses  her  sovereign  sway.  He  loses  re- 


244  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

sponsibility.  He  loses  a  sense  of  the  chance  which  life 
may  give.  He  becomes  dull  in  his  intellect,  careless  in 
his  habit  and  manner,  and  loses  the  will-power  to  act. 
But  the  soul  that  sees  attempts  the  impossible  for  God 
and  has  the  far  view.  He  is  not  living  simply  for  a 
day,  but  is  living  for  a  future. 

Many  of  the  problems  of  the  present  day  will  never 
be  solved  by  those  of  us  who  are  living  now,  but  by  our 
children.  The  great  questions  of  Europe  can  never  be 
solved  by  a  mere  system,  but  we  must  work  toward  an 
end.  With  patience  we  must  deliberate,  and  with  pa¬ 
tience  we  must  fulfil,  and  our  children  will  be  the  men 
and  women  who  ultimately  will  solve  many  of  the 
great  problems.  The  great  Cathedrals  were  built  by 
many  generations. 

What  educational  system  is  worth  the  paper  on  which 
it  is  written  without  the  far  view  of  attainment?  Why 
are  we  so  anxious  about  the  child  who  is  in  the  first 
grades,  and  so  careful  as  to  the  instruction  which  that 
child  receives  ?  And  why  do  we  watch  that  school  in  its 
development  from  grade  to  grade  ?  Because  the  grow¬ 
ing  child  solves  the  problem  of  the  later  student.  It  is 
the  far  view.  It  has  always  been  so  in  government. 
We  have  just  begun  to  realise  that  some  of  the  state¬ 
ments  of  George  Washington,  Alexander  Hamilton, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Marshall  and  Patrick  Henry 
have  been  the  words  that  are  finding  their  real  place 
in  the  moments  in  which  we  live.  The  wisdom  of 
Daniel  Webster  is  a  wisdom  which  we  recognise  now 
far  more  than  in  the  eloquent  tongue  which  gave  the 
world  its  thrill  with  his  personal  presence. 

Perhaps,  we  should  not  judge  the  men  of  our  own 


THE  SOUL’S  VISION 


245 


day  too  severely.  We  must  stand  away  from  the  high 
building  to  get  the  right  perspective.  Too  many  men 
and  women  are  judging  the  experiences  and  the  men 
of  the  hour  without  the  true  perspective  which  history 
must  give,  just  as  Wordsworth  said  so  beautifully  that 
time  alone  can  assuage  the  sorrow  of  life  and  give  to 
us  the  real  purpose  in  God’s  great  plan.  So  it  is  that 
you  and  I  must  see  with  the  vision  of  the  soul  and 
with  time-revealing  faith.  This  vision  is  given  to  those 
who  are  keen  in  their  spiritual  sight. 

Secondly:  Notice  the  vision  of  the  soul  faces  the 
immediate  condition  and  present  light  of  God. 

Elisha  was  a  man  of  God  who  saw  victory  where 
others  saw  nothing  but  defeat.  With  his  calm  and 
deliberate  judgment  he  saw  God. 

“Careless  seems  the  great  avenger; 

History’s  pages  but  record 
One  death-grapple  in  the  darkness 
’Twixt  old  systems  and  the  Word; 

Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold, 

Wrong  forever  on  the  throne, — 

Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 

And  behind  the  dim  unknown, 

Standeth  God  within  the  shadow, 

Keeping  watch  above  His  own.” 

The  soul’s  vision  takes  God  into  account  and  sees  the 
divine. 

Third:  Notice  as  well,  if  you  will,  that  spiriUml 
■vision  means  material  leadership.  This  great  host  was 
encamped  against  the  man  of  God.  What  chance  had 
he?  But  the  material  was  overcome.  Why?  Because 
this  man  was  greater  than  the  opposing  foe,  and  was 
above  fear  of  the  human  soul.  Faith  conquers  fear. 


246  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Faith  sees  God  and  recognises  invisible  leadership. 
Men  of  vision  and  faith  have  always  been  leaders. 

Amid  the  turmoil,  and  perhaps  the  chaos,  of  careless 
and  selfish  lives,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  confusion, 
wrong  and  crime  in  our  city,  and  in  our  homes,  but 
when  men  of  faith  face  the  real  issue,  there  is  no  per¬ 
manent  danger,  for  with  faith  and  vision  they  become 
the  leaders  of  their  day. 

Go  back  through  history  and  we  find  that  spiritual 
leadership  has  met  the  crisis.  This  is  more  especially 
true  in  recent  centuries  where  definitions  of  God's  love 
have  been  more  evident  and  eminent.  God's  leaders 
have  led  the  world  in  times  of  crises. 

The  Revolutionary  period  discovered  men  of  vision 
and  created  souls  who  always  saw  God.  Later  the 
lonely  Lincoln  was  on  his  knees  alone  when  members  of 
his  cabinet  had  left  him  in  discouragement.  And, 
when  the  nation  hung  in  the  balance  and  a  great  princi¬ 
ple  seemed  to  be  lost,  we  see  this  noble  soul,  as  he  kneels 
alone  in  his  room.  But  God  was  there,  and  a  spiritual 
leadership  which  drew  the  tear  to  the  physical  eye,  put 
the  keen  edge  to  an  intellect  and  warmed  the  fires  of 
a  great  heart,  and  led  a  nation,  and  all  was  well. 

Fourth:  Notice,  that  spiritual  vision  has  initiative 
in  it,  and  this  initiative  is  that  which  suggests  remedy. 

Whoever  dreamed  that  Elisha  could  escape?  The 
lad  was  right  when  he  said:  “We  are  surrounded — 
there  is  no  chance."  Whoever  heard  of  there  being  a 
chance  when  a  great  general  had  sent  his  choicest 
chariots  and  horses  and  army  against  them?  What 
chance  was  there  ? 

But  the  spiritual  leadership  of  this  great  soul  had 


THE  SOUL’S  VISION  247 

initiative  in  it,  and  in  initiative  there  was  faith  and 
remedy. 

The  darkest  days  face  many  of  the  nations.  What 
will  save  them?  Will  organisation?  Never.  Too 
many  of  them  are  so  counter-organised  at  the  present 
time  that  it  has  become  a  tangled  spider  web  without 
an  individual  mind  weaving  the  web.  All  kinds  of 
intricacies,  and  multiplicity  of  organisations  will  not 
save  them.  An  ideal  will  not  save  them,  no  matter 
how  it  may  be  humanized.  What  will  save  them? 
Nothing,  but  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  and  Christian 
leadership,  and  out  of  that  chaos  and  blackness  of  the 
night  a  vision  must  be  seen.  What  will  save  them? 
Why  the  vision  that  has  initiative  in  it  and  in  that 
initiative  faith  will  find  the  remedy.  “I  can  do  all 
things  through  Christ  who  strengthened!  me.” 

Christianity  cannot  save  them,  but  Christ  can.  Re¬ 
ligion  cannot  save  them,  but  the  Man  of  Nazareth  can, 
and  His  principles  of  brotherhood,  touching  nation  as 
well  as  individual  man  will  give  vision  and  will  reply  in 
the  powerful  cry  of  prayer :  “O  God,  open  his  eyes 
that  he  may  see.”  This  thought  leads  to  our  next 
consideration : 

Fifth:  This  vision  of  the  soul  gives  to  men  Power 
in  Prayer.  This  initiative  is  accomplished  through  the 
Power  of  Prayer. 

Praying  men  believe  in  prayer.  Men  who  do  not 
pray,  ridicule  prayer.  Men  who  have  no  use  for  the 
law,  ignore  and  criticise  the  law;  men  who  study  and 
practise  law,  believe  in  law.  Men  who  will  not  use  any 
form  of  medicine  or  surgery,  ignore  it  and  criticise  it. 
Men  who  save  life  by  medicine  and  surgery,  believe 


248  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

in  it.  Praying  men  believe  in  prayer.  Men  who 
never  pray  do  not  believe  in  prayer.  Why  should  they  ? 

But  the  power  of  prayer  grows  out  of  the  spiritual 
insight  and  vision  of  the  soul. 

Are  we  becoming  careless  somewhat  in  our  prayer? 
Is  it  a  mere  matter  of  form,  or  a  matter  of  generalised 
strength?  Do  we  pray  because  we  need?  We  always 
pray  in  need.  Let  a  great  blow  come  to  our  lives  and 
we  want  a  praying  man  or  a  praying  woman  by  our 
side.  Let  that  little  child,  who  is  more  to  you  than  all 
else,  lie  with  a  fever  of  one  hundred  and  four  or  one 
hundred  and  five  and  doctors  knit  their  brows  and  you 
say — “Won’t  you  pray  for  us?”  No  one  is  cruel 
enough  to  say:  “Have  you  been  praying  through  the 
years?”  Why  no,  you  have  forgotten  all  about  it. 
Prayer  did  not  mean  much  to  you.  A  minister  hap¬ 
pened  to  be  in  your  home  when  a  blessing  was  asked, 
and  your  boy  at  once  said:  “What’s  that?”  You 
have  forgotten  all  about  the  place  that  prayer  has  at 
the  Family  Altar,  but  this  little  child  is  nigh  unto 
death,  and  some  one  must  pray,  and  why  should  you 
not  want  some  one  to  pray? 

Have  we  forgotten  the  power  of  prayer?  The  great 
volume  of  prayer  that  came  from  hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  earnest  lives  five  or  six  years  ago  meant  much 
to  this  nation  and  to  our  boys  in  France. 

In  preparing  this  sermon,  I  looked  over  some  letters 
received  from  the  front  from  the  boys  of  this  church, 
boys  of  different  types  and  kinds!  Many  had  the 
request :  “Pray  for  us.”  Or,  “We  are  glad  the 
churches  are  remembering  us  in  prayer.”  Some  of 
them  had  never  spoken  of  prayer  before.  Alongside 


THE  SOUL’S  VISION  249 

of  those  letters  I  read  a  few  from  mothers,  in  which 
they  said:  “We  are  praying  with  you.” 

Thank  God  for  a  praying  people.  We  cannot  forget 
the  power  of  prayer,  but  it  is  so  much  harder  to  pray 
when  we  are  successful  than  when  we  are  unsuccessful. 
It  is  so  much  easier  for  a  drunken  man  to  be  penitent 
than  a  sober  man ;  for  a  man  in  affliction  to  realise  the 
need  of  God  than  when  everything  is  going  well.  It  is 
easier  to  pray  for  help  when  your  bank  account  is  low 
than  when  you  have  an  account  with  four  or  five  figures 
from  which  to  draw. 

Lastly:  The  Soul’s  vision  gives  us  relief  and  vic¬ 
tory.  We  know  not  how  it  comes.  Who  among  that 
Syrian  host  ever  dreamed  they  would  be  led  by  the  sur¬ 
rounded  prophet  into  the  land  of  Samaria,  but  the 
power  of  answered  prayer  led  that  great  host,  blinded 
themselves,  when  they  thought  they  could  see,  because 
the  man  of  prayer  was  the  man  of  initiative,  the  man 
of  emergency,  the  man  of  power,  and  the  man  of  vic¬ 
tory,  and  victory  was  the  victory  of  the  soul.  Later 
the  lad  looked  out  on  that  force  of  conquered  Syrians 
and  sounded  the  bugle  call,  saying:  “Father,  Father, 
shall  we  slay  them?”  The  prophet  replied :  “Slay  them 
not.  Give  them  food  and  drink;”  and  the  lasting  vic¬ 
tories  of  this  old  world  are  going  to  be  accomplished  by 
giving  the  nations  food  and  drink  instead  of  continuing 
to  slay  them  with  the  sword. 

Those  of  you  who  heard  that  marvellous  address  on 
Thursday  night  by  Mr.  Colten  as  to  the  conditions  of 
Russia  will  remember  he  said  that  the  best  families  in 
Russia,  the  most  intelligent  and  well-to-do  families,  are 
not  fed  to-day  as  well  as  our  organised  charities  in 


250  PLACES  OF  QUIET  STRENGTH 

Chicago  are  feeding  our  poor;  to  say  nothing  of  the 
masses  who  are  suffering  hunger  and  distress. 

Those  nations  will  never  be  saved  by  continued 
blood-shed.  Poor,  sin-reaping,  cruel  Turkey  will  never 
be  led  away  from  their  stream  of  blood  by  the  sword, 
even,  if  we  must,  in  my  judgment,  definitely  and 
clearly  stand  with  other  nations  in  saying  that  they 
shall  not  slay  the  innocent !  They  will  never  be  led  to  a 
standard  of  righteous  living  and  peace-loving  by  the 
sword.  We  must  feed  them  and  give  them  drink  and 
save  their  boys,  and  help  them  work  out  their  own 
salvation. 

Yes,  the  vision  of  the  soul  is  the  vision  of  relief  and 
victory.  Thus  the  Saviour  of  Men  died  on  a  cross 
that  the  world  might  know  the  meaning  of  Brotherhood 
and  that  men  might  love  one  another.  Oh,  Lord, 
‘'Open  our  eyes  that  we  may  see.” 


THE  END. 


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